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BARNES’S 


ELEMENTARY HISTORY 

OF THE 

UNITED STATES 


BY 

JAMES BALDWIN 

REVISED AND ENLARGED 


AMERICAN BOOK COMPANY 

CINCINNATI 


NEW YORK 


BOSTON 


ATLANTA 


CHICAGO 


E ns 

,3 

3 is 

\\i\ 


Copyright 1903, 1907, 1918. 1924 by 
AMERICAN BOOK COMPANY. 

Entered at Stationers’ Hall, London. 

BARNES’S EL 

w. p. 50 



4 «* * 


MADE IN U. S. A. 


•JUN17 *24 

©C1A793G62 




t 



PREFACE 


A TExr-BOOK of American history for beginners should 
aim to present a clear and somewhat comprehensive 
account of the chief influences that have shaped the 
destiny of our country and have given to it its preemi¬ 
nence among the nations of the earth. Educators are 
now quite generally agreed that this can be done in the 
most satisfactory manner through a series of biographies 
of the famous persons who have had most to do in com 
nection with those influences. Men make history; and 
the telling of history in stories of the lives of its makers 
has a quality of concreteness very attractive to children, 
who usually fail to be interested in chronological narra¬ 
tives wherein the personal element is less prominent. 

In this volume only such biographies are presented as 
are necessary to the continuity of the narrative as a 
whole. The story of no man’s life is related merely 
because of the man, but because of its value as a link in 
our country’s history. All the biographies in their order 
comprise a connected account of the discovery, settlement, 

and development of the United States. The plan of the 

3 


4 


PREFACE 


work has made some repetitions necessary ; it has also 
obliged the omission of many details of secondary impor¬ 
tance, which the pupil will learn in his later studies of the 
subject. There is a sharp line of distinction between a 
story-book and a history, — and yet the latter should 
scarcely fail to be as entertaining as the former. The 
narrative of the struggles and triumphs of the makers of 
America, and of the series of events which have culmi¬ 
nated in the present commercial and political prosperity 
of our country, ought to be to young readers not only an 
interesting story, but an incentive to good citizenship and 
intelligent patriotism. To most American children a 
study of the “ lives of great men ” will scarcely fail to be 
a reminder that we also “can make our lives sublime.” 


CONTENTS 


PAGE 

Christopher Columbus and the Discovery of America 7 

John Cabot and the Discovery of North America . . 25 

De Vaca and Coronado and the Exploration of the Southwest. 30 

Ferdinand de Soto and the Spanish in the South ... 42 

Sir Francis Drake and the First English Voyage round the 

World .... .47 

Sir Walter Raleigh and the First English Colonists . 55 

Pocahontas and the Settlement of Virginia ... 63 

Henry Hudson and the Dutch Settlement of New York . . 80 

William Brewster and the Pilgrims of New England . . 92 

John Endicott and Puritan Life in New England ' . 104 

Lord Baltimore and the Settlement of Maryland . . 115 

King Philip and the Indians of New England . 123 

Father Marquette and the French in North America . , 128 

Nathaniel Bacon and Life in Old Virginia .... 140 

William Penn and the Settlement of Pennsylvania . . , 150 

James Oglethorpe and the Settlement of Georgia . . . 165 

Benjamin Franklin and the Progress of the Colonies . .172 

Sir William Johnson and the French and Indian War . 184 

George Washington and the War for Independence . . 193 

5 




6 


CONTENTS 


PAGE 

Daniel Boone and the Settlement of Kentucky . . 213 

George Rogers Clark and the Conquest of the Northwest . 221 

Thomas Jefferson and the Founding of the Government . . 229 
Eli Whitney and the Invention of the Cotton Gin . . . 243 

Robert Fulton and the Invention of the Steamboat . . . 250 

Andrew Jackson and the Progress of the Nation . . . 259 

Samuel F. B Morse and the Invention of the Telegraph . . 273 

Henry Clay and the Compromises between the North and the 

South.283 

Robert E. Lee and the Uprising in the South . . . . 297 

Abraham Lincoln and the Saving of the Union . . . 312 

Ulysses S. Grant and the Great Civil War .... 332 
William McKinley and the Expansion of the Nation . . 345 

Later Administrations and the War with Germany . . . 359 

Biographical Notes.387 

Index.. 





CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS 

AND THE DISCOVERY OF AMERICA 
I. THE WAY TO INDIA 

This country in which we live was not always the same 
beautiful land that it is now. It was once a wild region 
of woods and swamps and savage mountains and lonely 
prairies. There were no pleasant farms nor busy towns. 
There were no roads, no schoolhouses, no mills, no churches. 
The only people who lived here were Indians. No one can 
tell how long the land might have remained wild and un¬ 
settled had it not been for a wise, brave man whose name 
was Christopher Columbus. 

Five hundred years ago the people of Europe had never 
heard of the continent which we call America. The wisest 
men among them had very little knowledge of the world. 
They knew a good deal about the countries which border 
the Mediterranean Sea. They knew something about Eng¬ 
land and Germany and Norway and even Iceland. A few 
travelers had visited Egypt and Arabia and Persia. But 
all the rest of the world was unknown. 

Trade with India. — For a great many years the mer¬ 
chants of Arabia and Persia had been in the habit of 
sending rare and costly goods to Europe, — silks, pearls, 

7 


8 


CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS 


spices, and jewels of gold and precious stones. They said 
that these things came from a very far country called India. 
They brought them across the great deserts on the backs 
of camels. At Constantinople, or at some place in western 
Asia, they sold them to traders who sent them in ships 



The world as known in Columbus’s time 


across the Mediterranean to sell to the rich people in 
Europe. At one time nearly all the trade of this kind was 
carried to Venice and Genoa, two cities of Italy. The 
merchants of those cities became very rich, and the cities 
themselves became very powerful. 







THE WAY TO INDIA 


9 


The Turks. — Then, from unknown regions beyond the 
Caspian Sea, there came a warlike people called Turks. 
They overran all western Asia, they conquered Constanti¬ 
nople, and made themselves masters of the region in which 
their descendants live to this day. They held the sea¬ 
ports, the desert ways, and the mountain passes through 
which the trade of India had hitherto been brought. 

How now could the wealthy people of Europe obtain 
the silks and spices and jewels which they prized so 
highly ? The traders who supplied them must, if pos¬ 
sible, find some other way to India, — some way that 
was not held by the dreaded Turks. 

Seeking a new way to India. — It was known that India 
borders on the Indian Ocean which lies east of Africa. 
Why not send ships through the Red Sea and into this 
ocean? Ships from the Mediterranean could not reach 
the Red Sea, for there was then no canal across the isthmus 
of Suez as there is to-day. 

Why not, then, send ships around Africa ? That is just 
what many men were thinking of; but nobody knew the 
way. No ship had ever ventured so far south. The sea 
captains of Venice and Genoa were bold enough on the 
Mediterranean; but they did not dare to go far out upon 
the ocean. They were afraid to sail their vessels upon 
strange waters. 

Sailing around Africa. — In the little country of Portu¬ 
gal, in the southwest corner of Europe, many people were 
interested in trying to find the way to India. Ship after 
ship was sent out to see how far the west coast of Africa 


10 


CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS 


extended. Each went a little farther than the one before 
it, but all were very cautious. The sea was unknown, and 
it was believed to be full of dreadful things. Year after 
year went by, and still no one had learned whether the 
long coast ever came to an end, or whether there was any 
way at all by which to reach the Indian Ocean. 

“ We shall never get to India by going around Africa,” 
said many. 

II. WHAT COLUMBUS BELIEVED 

Just at that time 
Christopher Columbus 
came forward and said : 
“Even if we could reach 
India by sailing around 
Africa, it would be a 
very long voyage. I 
think there is a much 
better and shorter way.” 

Who was Christopher 
Columbus ? — Columbus 
was an Italian sailor 
then living in Portugal. 
He was born in Genoa, 
a famous seaport of 
Italy. He knew a great 
deal about the sea. When a boy he had spent many a 
day on the wharfs, watching the ships coming and going. 
He had listened to many a wonderful story of India; 



Christopher Columbus 


WHAT COLUMBUS BELIEVED 


11 


and he had made up his mind that when he became a 
man he would visit that country of gold and spices. 

When he was fourteen he became a sailor. He after¬ 
wards visited all the great seaports on the Mediterranean. 
He sailed down the African coast as far as the boldest cap¬ 
tain in Portugal dared to go. He lived for a time on one 
of the Madeira islands, and studied the ocean. He sailed 
to the Far North, to the frozen shores of Iceland. Then 
for a while he made his home in Portugal, where he busied 
himself making maps and charts. 

Columbus in Portugal. — There were few men who 
knew more about the world than he. There was not a 
bolder sailor in Europe. And so, when he said, “ I think 
there is a better way to reach India than by sailing around 
Africa/' he was asked to explain what he meant. 

“ Well,” he answered, “ the world, as our wisest men 
agree, is round. It is round like an apple or a globe. 
On one side of it are Europe and Africa. Adjoining 
them, but reaching far over upon the other side, is Asia. 
The land, in fact, goes much more than halfway round 
the globe of the earth. The ocean, although broad, is 
like a vast river dividing the land on the east from the 
land on the west. On this shore is Europe, on that is 
Asia. To reach India, we have but to cross over. My 
plan, then, is to sail west instead of east.” 

People thought the plan a strange one. Some laughed, 
and said it was very foolish. But Columbus explained 
it so well that a few of the wiser men believed in it. 

The king of Portugal. — Columbus explained his ideas 


12 


CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS 


to the king of Portugal. Then he said: “If you will 
supply me with ships and sailors, I will make a voyage 
across the Atlantic. I will make known this new way to 
India. I ask only a fair share of the honor and profits 
that may be gained by the voyage.” 

The king was more than half persuaded. He thought 
that the scheme might be worth trying. But he wanted 
all the honor and profits for himself. 

So he sent out a ship secretly, to sail as far into the 
ocean as it could. But sailors at that time were afraid to 
venture to any great distance from the shore. They called 
the Atlantic the u Sea of Darkness.” They believed that, 
as they sailed westward, they would encounter many dread¬ 
ful dangers; that storms were raging there all the time; 
and that there was no farther shore. 

Therefore the king’s ship soon came back. The cap¬ 
tain said that he had seen nothing but storm-tossed waves 
and a wilderness of waters. 

Columbus in Spain. — When Columbus found that the 
king of Portugal would not help him, he went to Spain. 
He would ask Ferdinand and Isabella, the king and queen 
of that country, to give him the means to try his scheme. 
He took his little son Diego with him. 

One evening, weary from long walking, he came to a 
small convent near the town of Palos. He knocked at 
the gate, and asked for a drink of water and a bite of 
bread for poor Diego. The prior of the convent saw the 
two travelers, and knew from their looks that they were 
no common beggars. He invited them to come in and 


WHAT COLUMBUS BELIEVED 


13 



rest. He talked with Colum¬ 
bus, and found that he was 
a man of much intelligence. 
He listened while his guest explained his ideas about the 
world and his plan for discovering a new way to India. 

Encouragement. — Columbus told the prior his whole 
story. He told why he had left Portugal, how he had 
hoped to induce Ferdinand and Isabella to help him, and 
how nobody in Spain would listen to him. The king was 
busy carrying on a great war. The queen was not inter¬ 
ested in his plan. People laughed when he tried to explain 
his ideas. He was discouraged. 



14 


CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS 


“ Cheer up, my friend,” said the good prior. “Per¬ 
severe, and you will yet succeed. I myself will help you. 
I will use my influence with the queen. She will listen 
to me, for I was once her confessor.” 

Perseverance. — Columbus did persevere. Bur it was 
yet a long time before he succeeded. Several years passed 
by, — years of disappointment and sore trials, — and then, 
just as he was getting ready to leave Spain, the queen was 
persuaded to favor his project. The king also agreed to 
give him the help that he asked. 

Three ships were made ready. Two of these, the Nina 
and the Pinta , were very small and had no decks. The 
other, the Santa Maria , was a little larger; it was chosen 
by Columbus as his flagship. 

III. THE FIRST VOYAGE 

One morning in midsummer the little fleet sailed away 

from the harbor of Palos. The sailors scarcely expected 
1492 ever return - They wept as the land faded from 
sight. Most of them had been forced to go. The 
smaller ships, too, had been seized upon by the king’s 
orders and taken without the leave of their owners. 

The voyage was a long one. The sailors begged to be 
allowed to turn back. They even threatened the life of 
their commander. But Columbus was determined not to 
give up. He stood on the deck of the Santa Maria and 
watched for signs of land. 

At length a green branch from a tree was seen floating 
in the water. Surely, land could not be far away. Then 


THE FIRST VOYAGE 


15 


some little birds, of a kind that live along the seashore, 
hovered around the ships. Surely, land was near at hand. 
At length, one night, a light was seen far over the water. 
It moved as if it were a torch being carried from place to 



“Columbus . . . went on shore with some of his men” 


place. When morning broke, the ships were near a pleas¬ 
ant island, green with trees and grass. How glad the 
sailors must have been ! 

The landing. — Columbus, dressed in scarlet and gold, 
went on shore with some of his men. All knelt upon 
the beach and thanked God for bringing them in safety 
across the dreaded sea. They planted a cross in the sand. 
They unfurled the banner of Spain. Columbus named 
the island w San Salvador,” and took possession of it for 



16 


CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS 


the king and queen, Ferdinand and Isabella. It was one 
of the group which we now know as the Bahamas. 

Indians. — Soon from among the trees strange men 
and women and children came shyly to look at the 
strangers. Columbus believed that he was on one of the 
islands of India, and so he called the people Indians. 
They were copper-colored; they had long, black hair and 
were finely formed; they seemed gentle and timid; they 
believed that the white men were beings come down from 
the sky to bless the earth. 

It was on the 12th day of October, 1492, that Colum¬ 
bus landed on San Salvador. , It was the first land seen 
on this side of the ocean; and it is common for us to say 
that America was discovered on that day. But Columbus 
thought that he was near the eastern coast of Asia. 

Other discoveries. — Columbus sailed onward, hoping 
to reach the mainland, perhaps of India, perhaps of China, 
perhaps of Japan. He passed near many beautiful islands. 
He discovered Cuba and then sailed eastward, along its 
northern shore. Everywhere he was delighted with the 
pleasant land, the trees, the flowers, the fruits, the people. 
The natives — the Indians — were peaceable and kind, the 
air was mild, the sea was calm. Never was there a happier 
voyage than that first cruise among the islands which we 
now call the West Indies. 

But when the voyagers reached Haiti, misfortunes 
befell them. The Santa Maria was driven ashore in a 
storm and wrecked. The captain of the Pinta had already 
disobeyed orders and sailed away. Columbus was left with 


THE FIRST VOYAGE 


17 


only the little Nina. He decided then that it was best to 
return to Spain and tell the story of his discoveries. 

The homeward voyage was a hard one. Fierce storms 
threatened to overwhelm the tiny vessel. Scarcely a man 
hoped to see Spain again. Columbus wrote on a piece of 
parchment an account of his discoveries. He put the 



“The king and queen sent for Columbus 


parchment in a cask, which he sealed and threw over¬ 
board. He thought that if the Nina should be lost, per¬ 
haps some day the cask would drift to shore and be 
picked up, the parchment would be found and read, and 
the world would know of what he had done. 

But the ship weathered the storms, and, after many 

BARNES’S EL. — 2 













18 


CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS 


weeks, sailed proudly into the harbor of Palos. What 
rejoicing there was that day! The king and queen sent 
for Columbus. They had him sit beside them and tell all 
about his voyage. They looked at the strange things he 
had brought from the islands beyond the sea. They 
honored him in every way they could. A happy man was 
Columbus. 

IV. THE SECOND VOYAGE 

In a few months everything was ready for another 
voyage. Seventeen ships sailed from Spain with fifteen 
hundred men on board. This time there was no weeping 
as the land disappeared; but there were songs of joy and 
hope. All expected soon to reach the shores of India. 
They expected to visit the rich cities of the East; to load 
their vessels with gold and pearls and fine silks; and to 
return home carrying great wealth with them. 

The voyage was a pleasant one. The first land seen was 
a mountainous island which Columbus called Dominica. 
Then he sailed northwesterly, cruising among what are 
now known as the Lesser Antilles. He discovered Porto 
Rico, which the natives called Boriquen, and finally reached 
Haiti, where he had stopped on his first voyage. 

In Haiti the sky was as blue, the sea was as calm, 
the land was as beautiful as before. But the Spaniards 
with Columbus w r ere dissatisfied and unhappy. They dis¬ 
covered no rich cities there. They saw no treasure houses 
filled with gold. The people whom they found were 
naked savages. Was this the India of their hopes? 


THE SECOND VOYAGE 


19 


A colony was formed. A town was laid out and named 
Isabella, after the queen. Twelve ships sailed back to 
Spain to bring other colonists and more supplies. Explor¬ 
ing parties were sent out to look for gold. 

Further discoveries. —Columbus left the colony in 
charge of his brother and sailed away in three small 



The West Indies — showing the discoveries of Columbus 


vessels to make further discoveries. He coasted along the 
south shore of Cuba, thinking it was the mainland of Asia. 
Then changing his course he came to another large island 
which the natives called Jamaica. 

Discouragement, —At length he returned to Haiti. 








20 


CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS 


Everything there was in confusion. The men in the 
colony were angry because they had not found more 
mines of gold. They blamed Columbus for all their dis¬ 
appointments. Some had already gone back to Spain to 
make complaints against him. Others demanded that he 
should take them home at once. He could not quiet 
them; he could not control them. 

He was obliged to yield to their clamors. Two hun¬ 
dred homesick men were crowded into two little vessels, 
and with them Columbus sailed back to Spain. They 
were nearly three months in crossing the ocean. 

This time there were no great rejoicings over the 
return of Columbus. But the king and queen were kind 
to him, and promised to furnish ships for another voyage. 

V. THE SAD END 

The third voyage.—Nearly two years passed. Then 
Columbus sailed again for the new lands he had discovered 
in the West. His course was farther south than before. 
l49g After a long, hard voyage he discovered the coast 
of South America near the mouth of the Orinoco 
River. This was the first time he had seen the mainland. 
He thought that it was a part of Asia. He followed the 
shore westward for some distance, and then, changing his 
course, sailed to Haiti. 

In Haiti. — He found the colony there in even a worse 
condition than when he had left it. The men were quar¬ 
reling and fighting. It was hard for him to restore order. 
He did not dare to go away to make further discoveries. 


THE SAD END 


21 



For two weary years he stayed in Haiti trying to establish 
a peaceful, prosperous settlement. 

But his enemies were all the time carrying bad reports 
back to Spain. Almost everybody turned against him. 
The king listened to the 


complaints that were 
made, and at last sent 
out a man to be gov¬ 
ernor of Haiti instead 
of Columbus. 

Columbus sent home. 

— When the new gov¬ 
ernor arrived in Haiti 
he caused Columbus to 
be arrested. He accused 
him of inciting the In¬ 
dians against the Span¬ 
iards. He chained him 
with iron fetters and 
sent him to Spain. The 
people of Spain were 
ashamed and angry 
when they saw the great 
discoverer brought home in chains. The queen ordered 
that his fetters should be taken off at once. With tears in 
her eyes she received him in her own palace. Columbus, 
broken-hearted, threw himself at her feet and sobbed aloud. 

The fourth voyage. -— In the meanwhile many ships of 
Spain were crossing the sea, and other men were making 


1 He chained him with iron fetters ’ 




22 


CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS 


discoveries in the New World, as it was called, which 
Columbus had made known. It was a long time before 
he was permitted to make another voyage. At length, 
with four vessels, he again crossed the ocean. When he 
arrived off the coast of Haiti a dreadful hurricane was 
beginning to blow; but the governor would not let him 
come into the harbor. His ships, however, found shelter 
in a secluded cove. The Spanish fleet which was just 
starting to Spain was destroyed by the storm. Twenty 
vessels or more went to the bottom, and with one of them 
the governor himself. 

Columbus sailed onward toward the west. He discov¬ 
ered the coast of Central America, and landed on the isthmus 
of Panama. He little dreamed that only a few miles beyond 
were the shores of a great ocean which no European had 
ever seen. He still believed that he was on the coast of Asia. 

Misfortunes now came thick and fast. Many of his 
men were killed by Indians. His ships were caught in a 
storm and driven to Jamaica, where they were wrecked. 
Columbus and his men stayed a whole year on that wild 
island, until vessels from Haiti came to their rescue. 

Broken in health and sick with disappointment the 
great discoverer returned to Spain. Queen Isabella was 
then on her death-bed. With her Columbus lost his best 
friend. His enemies were more numerous than before. 

America. — About this time a noted explorer whose 
name was Americus Vespucius was making a voyage 
along the coast of Brazil. This man like Columbus was 
an Italian. He was then in the service of the king of 


THE SAD END 


23 



Portugal, although he had twice sailed in Spanish ships 
across the ocean. Unlike most other explorers of the time, 
his thoughts were not all on gold. He took pleasure in 
1502 examining the forests, the streams, and the moun¬ 
tains of the strange new lands which he visited. 
When he returned home he wrote a letter to a friend, 
giving a pleasing account of what he had seen. The 


“He took pleasure in examining the forests, the streams, and the mountains” 

letter was read by many people, and at last was printed. 
Then some one said: “ Why not give a name to those won¬ 
derful countries which Americus Vespucius has so pleas¬ 
antly described? What is to hinder us from calling it 
America, or the land of Americus ? ” Others approved this 
idea; and thus the name America was applied, first to 











24 


CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS 


what is now Brazil and finally to the whole new world on 
this side of the Atlantic. 

Death of the great discoverer. — Columbus made no 
more voyages. He lived about eighteen months after 
returning from his last voyage. He was almost alone, 
sick and in poverty. At length, on the 20th day of May, 
1506, he died. Very few people knew of his death, or 
cared when they heard about it; but later his body was 
laid in a fine tomb at Seville. The casket in which he 
was placed was afterwards removed to Haiti, then it was 
taken to Cuba, and a few years ago it was carried back 
to Spain. 

REVIEW 

How long has America been known to the people of Europe ? 
With what country did the merchants of Europe wish to carry on 
trade ? Why ? Why was it so difficult to bring merchandise from 
India? How did ships from Portugal attempt to reach India? 
What did Columbus think was a better way ? What did others 
think of his plan ? Why ? Why was he so long in getting ready to 
sail across the ocean ? Who finally helped him ?• What land did 
he first discover, and when ? What land did he think he had dis¬ 
covered ? How did the people of Spain receive him when he 
returned from his first voyage ? Why was his second voyage a dis¬ 
appointment ? What part of the mainland of America did Columbus 
first reach ? On which of his voyages did he first see the coast of 
North America ? Why was this continent called America? Why 
was it called a new world ? 


JOHN CABOT 

AND THE DISCOVERY OF NORTH AMERICA 
I. A DARING SEA CAPTAIN 

John Cabot, like Columbus, was born in Genoa, Italy. 
For all that we know, he and Columbus may have been 
schoolboys together at the same school. At about the 
time that Columbus was first telling his plans to the king 
of Portugal, Cabot was living in Venice. He was a mer¬ 
chant and sea captain. His ships sailed to the ports 
at the farther end of the Mediterranean Sea and brought 
back goods from Syria and other distant lands. 

Merchandise from India. — Once when he was in one 
of these ports, he saw a long train of camels that had just 
arrived from Arabia. The animals were loaded with rich 
spices which they had brought across the deserts. 

“ Where did those spices come from ? ” asked Cabot. 

“ They came from India,” was the answer, “ and they 
have been many months on the way.” 

This set him to thinking. Was there not some easier 
and shorter route by which the merchandise of India 
could be brought to Europe ? Columbus and the king of 
Portugal were trying to solve the same question. 

Cabot in England. — About two years before Columbus 
made his first voyage, John Cabot left Venice and went 

25 


26 


JOHN CABOT 


with his family to England. He settled in Bristol, which 
was then the most important of all the English seaports. 
Ships from Bristol often went on long voyages to Nor¬ 



way and Iceland, and some 
sailed even to Spain and the 
Mediterranean Sea. 

Cabot soon became known 
as the most daring of all the 
merchant captains of Bristol. 
Within twelve months after settling at that port, he 
sent some ships far out into the Atlantic to search for 
an island which was said to lie somewhere southwest 
of Ireland. This was a year before Columbus sailed 
from Spain. Cabot’s ships ventured farther out into 
the ocean than any others had gone, but they did not 
discover any land. 

















NORTH AMERICA DISCOVERED 


27 


By the king’s leave. — When the news was told in Eng¬ 
land that Columbus had really sailed across the Atlantic, 
and had reached what he believed to be India, the mer¬ 
chants and sailors of Bristol were greatly excited. John 
Cabot resolved that he also would discover new lands; 
and King Henry of England very graciously gave him 
leave “ to sail to the east, west, or north, with five ships 
carrying the English flag, to seek and discover all the 
islands, countries, regions, or provinces of pagans in what¬ 
ever part of the world.” He was not to sail south lest 
he should make trouble with Spain. 

Cabot sails from Bristol. — One thing and then another 
delayed him. It was not until four years after the return 
of Columbus from his first voyage that Cabot was ready 
to sail. He had but one ship, called the Mattheic. With 
1497 him went his son Sebastian, a young man probably 
not more than twenty years of age. It was early 
in May when he sailed from Bristol, and his course was 
straight west, across the Atlantic. 

II. NORTH AMERICA DISCOVERED 

A strange coast. — The sea was rough and the voyage 
was tedious and long, but at the end of six weeks a 
strange, rocky coast was discovered. It was a part of 
North America, probably the coast of Labrador. Although 
the season was almost midsummer, the shore seemed bare 
and desolate. The Matthew sailed along within sight of 
it for nearly nine hundred miles. Cabot landed now and 
then and took possession of the country in the name of 


28 


JOHN CABOT 


the king of England. But he found no such beautiful 
and interesting things as Columbus had discovered farther 
south. At length he caused the Matthew to be turned 
about, and before the end of July the little vessel and its 
crew were safe home in Bristol harbor. Columbus was 
just then preparing to make his third voyage. 

The Grand Admiral. — Cabot hastened to London and 
reported to the king that he had discovered the coast 
of China. Henry was so highly pleased that he gave the 
brave captain a present of £10 in gold (as much now as 
$200 in our money), and settled a pension on him for 
the rest of his life. Cabot himself was the hero of the 
hour. He dressed himself in silk robes, and was called 
the Grand Admiral of England; and whenever he walked 
out in Bristol or London, the people ran after him in 
crowds, like madmen. 

The second voyage. — Early the next spring Cabot 
started on another voyage. He believed that if he should 
sail a little farther south than before, he would discover 
the rich island of Cipango, or Japan, about which many 
wonderful stories were afloat. He followed the eastern 
coast of our country from Maine to Cape Cod and per¬ 
haps much farther. But he saw no signs of the wealth 
and splendor which were said to exist in Japan and India., 
There were neither cities nor towns nor orchards nor 
fields. Everywhere there were dense woods, in which 
wild animals and a few savage men had their homes. 

It was not a very promising country; but Cabot, as 
on his former voyage, took possession of the coast for his 


NORTH AMERICA DISCOVERED 


29 


master, the king of England. This it was that gave to 
England, in after years, the right to claim the larger part 
of North America as her own. 

We hear no more of John Cabot. —Just when Cabot’s 
ships returned to Bristol from this second voyage, we do 
not know. Indeed, it is supposed by some that he himself 
died before reaching home; for we do not hear of him 
again. Ilis son Sebastian became the greatest sea captain 
of his time, and was for several years in the service of 
the king of Spain. But it was a long, long time before 
English ships again visited the wild and wooded shores 
of North America. 


REVIEW 

Name three Italians who had much to do with the discovery of 
our country. Why was John Cabot so deeply interested in discov¬ 
ering a short way to India ? Which saw the mainland of America 
. first, Cabot or Columbus ? What countries did Cabot hope to dis¬ 
cover ? Why was he not better pleased with his discoveries ? What 
claim did England make on account of his discoveries ? What was 
the name of John Cabot’s son ? What did he become ? 


DE VACA AND CORONADO 

AND THE EXPLORATION OF THE SOUTHWEST 
I. SPANISH DISCOVERIES AND CONQUESTS 


Further explorations by the Spanish. — One ship after 

another followed in the track of Columbus across the 
Atlantic Ocean. Multitudes of Spanish adventurers has- 



Voyages of Columbus, Cabot, Vespucius, and Magellan 

tened to seek wealth and fame in the strange, new, western 
world. They explored the coasts of the Gulf of Mexico 
and the Caribbean Sea, and made settlements in Haiti and 
Cuba. Soon also they formed a small colony at Darien 
on the neck of land which we call the Isthmus of Panama. 


30 










SPANISH DISCOVERIES AND CONQUESTS 


31 


Balboa. — One of these adventurers, whose name was 
Balboa, crossed the isthmus, and was the first of white 
men to see the vast ocean now known as the Pacific. 
Wading out from the beach as far as he could go, he raised 
his sword in air and declared that he took possession of 
the great water and of all the lands adjoining it in the 
name of his master, the king of Spain. 

The Spanish on the Pacific. — Spain now laid claim not 
only to the greater part of America, but to the Pacific 
Ocean and all the islands that might be discovered in it. 
Ships of Spain soon 
found their way 
across it, and visited 
the shores of India, 
which were thou¬ 
sands of miles farther 
away than Columbus 
had imagined. A 
Spanish fleet, led by 
a famous navigator 
called Magellan, was 
the first to make 
that long voyage. Magellan himself was killed on one 
of the Philippine Islands; but one of his vessels, the 
Victoria , sailed on, entirely round the world, and at last 
came back safe to Spain. 

For more than fifty years only Spanish ships were 
allowed to sail on the Pacific. Spanish trading vessels 
brought to Panama the rich merchandise of the Philippine 



A Spanish ship of that time 



32 


DE YACA AND CORONADO 


Islands and the Far East. Other vessels brought to the 
same place the gold and silver that had been taken from 
the mines of Peru, in South America. All these treasures 
were then carried across the isthmus and loaded upon still 
other Spanish ships, which carried them to Spain. 

The gold seekers. — The Spanish adventurers who 
flocked to America seemed to have but one thought, and 
that was to gather treasures and heap up gold and silver 
to be sent home to Spain. They robbed and enslaved and 
killed the poor natives, only to enrich themselves and to 
add to the wealth and power of the Spanish king. 

Florida.—One of these adventurers was Ponce de Leon. 
He was the first Spanish governor of Porto Rico and be¬ 
came very rich by robbing and oppressing the natives of 
that island. Having heard of a fountain which was said 
to make every one young who bathed in its waters, he set 
out in search of it. Although he failed to find it, he dis¬ 
covered a beautiful country which he named Florida. 
This discovery gave to the Spanish king the excuse to 
claim all the country north of the Gulf of Mexico. 

Mexico.—West of the Gulf of Mexico the Spaniards dis¬ 
covered a wonderful country, the people of which were quite 
different from any others that were known. These people 
were called Aztecs. They lived in well-made houses, and 
wore clothing of cotton cloth variously colored. They 
had beautiful gardens and farms, and fine public roads, 
and villages and cities, and strange temples and treasure- 
houses filled with gold. Hernando Cortes, a Spanish 
soldier of great courage and perseverance, set out with a 


CABEZA DE VACA 


33 


small army to conquer this country. After nearly three 
years of cruel fighting he succeeded. The rich native 
kingdom of Mexico, with its treasures of gold, became the 
prey of the destroying Spaniard. 

This conquest of Mexico was the greatest achievement 
that had yet been made by the Spanish in America. The 
mines of Mexico proved to be the richest in the world, and 
for three hundred years that country remained the most 
important of all the possessions of Spain. 

II. CABEZA DE VACA 

The Spanish in Mexico. — There was great excitement 
in Spain when the story of the conquest of Mexico first 
became known there. The Spanish people believed that 
since one such rich kingdom had been found in America 
there must be many others; and more than one plan 
was formed for discovering and conquering them. Soon 
the greater part of Mexico was overrun by eager gold 
hunters, and few were the Aztec treasures that were not 
seized and sent to Spain. 

Strangers in camp. — About fifteen years after the con¬ 
quest some Spanish soldiers at a small village in the 
western part of Mexico were astonished to see four wild¬ 
looking creatures coming out of the forest and approaching 
their camp. These creatures had the form of men, but 
they appeared more savage than any of the natives of 
that country. One was as black as ink; the other three 
had skins like those of white men bronzed by the sun and 
the wind. The little clothing which they wore was made 

barnes’s el. —3 



34 DE VAC A AND CORONADO 

of the skins of wild animals. They were gannt and thin, 
as though long unused to nourishing food. 

Wanderers for eight years.—As they approached the 
camp their leader, who was taller and better-looking than 
the rest, called out to the soldiers in very good Spanish 


“ ‘ Ah, what happiness ! ’ he cried ” 

and saluted them as friends. “ Ah, what happiness,” he 
cried, “ to meet with countrymen once more ! ” 

The soldiers were now still more astonished. They 
gathered around their strange visitors and inquired who 
they were and how they had happened to come there as 
though dropped from the clouds. “We are Spaniards,” 
was the answer, “and for eight years we have been wan¬ 
dering among wild men and wild beasts without once see¬ 
ing the faces of friends.” 



CABEZA DE VACA 


35 


The leader tells his story. — “ My name is Cabeza de 
Vaca,” said the leader of the four, “and I belong to one 
of the noblest families in Spain. The two white men who 
are with me are also Spaniards of good birth. The black 
man is Stephen, a negro servant who has shared in all our 
toils and privations.” 

Then, while his listeners sat wondering, he told the story 
of his misfortunes and of his long wanderings in unknown 
lands. It was, in substance, as follows: 

Narvaez. — Narvaez, a Spanish officer who had done 
some brave things in Cuba, had formed a plan for invad¬ 
ing Florida and for subduing the many rich kingdoms 
which it was supposed to contain. The king gave him 
permission to carry out this plan, and four hundred of the 
noblest young men in Spain enlisted in his service. 
Cabeza de Yaca was the treasurer of the expedition; and 
every man felt sure of outdoing Cortes and of sending 
home shiploads of gold, the plunder of savage kingdoms. 

The company landed on the coast of Florida, and 
pushed northward through the trackless forest to a point 
somewhere in the present state of Georgia. But no gold 
did they find; and they were so hard pressed by savage 
foes that they were glad to return to the coast. Their 
ships had disappeared. They therefore built some rude 
boats in which they hoped to find their way to some 
Spanish station on the coast of Mexico. But storms 
arose; the boats were wrecked; Narvaez and nearly all of 
his company perished. 

Shipwreck and captivity. — A few of the men were cast 


86 


DE YACA AND CORONADO 


ashore at some point on the coast of Texas. Among these 
was Cabeza de Yaca. They were made prisoners and 
enslaved by a tribe of savage Indians. After much suffer¬ 
ing and toil, Cabeza and his three companions escaped, 
only to be captured by another tribe. Then followed 
months of peril and privation. They were carried from 
one place to another, through the tangled forests and over 
the boundless grassy plains of the Southwest. They made 
friends with their masters and gained their freedom. 
They became medicine men, and traveled from tribe to 
tribe, pretending to heal the sick, which caused the sav¬ 
ages to regard them with awe. 

A long journey. — Their course was always toward the 
west, for they hoped that thus they would at last reach 
some Spanish settlement in Mexico. They crossed the 
Rio Grande and visited some parts of New Mexico. They 
traversed desert plains, and climbed rugged mountains, 
and followed deep canons — always looking westward. 
And at last, after hardships too many to be related, they 
were gladdened by the sight of the banner of Spain float¬ 
ing over the little camp of soldiers near the shores of the 
western sea. They had traveled more than four thousand 
miles, much of the way along the southern borders of what 
is now the United States. They had seen the mouth of the 
Mississippi where it pours its flood of waters into the Gulf. 
They had been the first of white men to land on the shores 
of Texas, and the first to traverse the great plains of the 
Southwest. They have been called the first pathfinders 
across the North American continent. 


THE SEARCH FOR THE SEVEN CITIES 


37 


III. THE SEARCH FOR THE SEVEN CITIES 

In the presence of the viceroy. — Cabeza de Vaca and 
his companions were soon taken to the city of Mexico, 
and their story was repeated to the viceroy, as the Spanish 
ruler of the country was called. The viceroy questioned 
Cabeza eagerly about what he had seen and heard. “ Did 
you not find any treasures?” he asked, “and did you not 
visit any of those rich kingdoms which are said to excel 
even Mexico in wealth ? ” 

“We ourselves saw no treasures,” answered Cabeza, 
“ for we were intent upon escaping with our lives. 
Neither did we visit any rich kingdoms; but I am confi¬ 
dent that there are such at some distance farther north. 
In fact, the natives told us many stories of strong cities 
where the houses are built of marble and the doorposts 
are ornamented with precious stones.” 

The viceroy was much excited by this report, for vague 
accounts had already come to his notice of seven rich cities 
far to the north which were said to excel in splendor 
anything that had hitherto been discovered in America. 
He was anxious to find those cities and to conquer them 
for Spain. 

The journey of Fray Marcos. — Cabeza de Yaca was 
anxious to return home and had no wish to please the 
viceroy by going m search of the seven cities. But Ste¬ 
phen, the negro who had shared his adventures, was v\ illing 
to act as guide through the regions which they had trav¬ 
ersed ; and a monk, commonly called Fray Marcos, under- 


38 


DE VACA AND CORONADO 


took with the negro’s aid to discover the rich kingdoms of 
the north. The monk and the negro, with a few Indians 
as helpers, set out on their errand, and the viceroy and his 
friends began to prepare for great events. 

Several weeks passed and then Fray Marcos returned. 
He reported that his negro guide had been killed by the 
natives of one of the cities, but he himself had seen every¬ 
thing from the summit of a hill. There were indeed, he 
said, seven cities, all at no great distance from one an¬ 
other, and their splendor and wealth surpassed the most 
extravagant dreams. 

Francisco de Coronado. — The viceroy decided to send 
out an expedition at once to conquer these cities and take 
possession of their treasures. He chose Francisco de Coro¬ 
nado, a young officer of great promise, to be the leader of 
the expedition; and an army of several hundred Spaniards 
and Mexican Indians was soon in readiness for the march. 

Coronado, although but thirty years old, was already 
well known for his courage and dashing energy, and not 
only the viceroy of Mexico, but the king of Spain had 
great'faith in his ability as a commander. With high 
hopes and eager expectation, he mustered his army at the 
1540 same villa S e in western Mexico where Cabeza de Yaca 
had made his strange appearance four years before. 
On a pleasant morning in April the march was begun. 
The little army passed northward not far from the shores 
of the Gulf of California. Then it crossed the desert 
plains of Arizona, and arrived at last in the country of 
the seven cities. 


THE SEARCH FOR THE SEVEN CITIES 


39 



The cities found. — But oh, the disappointment! Instead 
of the busy centers of life and trade which Coronado had 
expected to see, he found only the half-ruined villages of 
Moqui Indians. Instead of marble palaces and golden 
temples, he found only mud-walled houses which contained 
nothing worth carrying away. In the account of the place 


A Moqui village 

which he sent back to Mexico he said that the people wore 
clothing of cotton cloth which they wove for themselves; 
that they had fields of Indian corn upon which they de¬ 
pended for food; and that their villages bore no resemblance 
to the splendid cities which Fray Marcos had described. 

Quivira. — The Indians told him that there was a great 
city called Quivira farther on, and that if he persevered 
in his march he would surely reach it. lie therefore 







40 


DE VACA AND CORONADO 


went on, turning now toward the east. He traversed 
New Mexico, crossed the Rio Grande, and turned north¬ 
ward to the great plains of Kansas. Millions of bisons, or 
American buffaloes, roamed at will in that region, and 
Coronado was the first of white men to describe them. 

Three hundred leagues 
from the Rio Grande he 
arrived at Quivira, the 
city of which he was in 
search. But it was merely 
a collection of wretched 
huts, inhabited by a few 
Indians whose only occu¬ 
pation was hunting buf¬ 
faloes. 

The end of the long march. — Coronado was not yet 
ready to despair. The golden country of his hopes seemed 
always to be a little farther on, a little farther on; but he 
was determined to find it. With such of his followers as 
were still able to keep up with him, he marched onward 
across the plains until he reached, as some suppose, the 
Missouri River at about the spot where Kansas City now 
stands. Then, wholly discouraged, he turned and rode 
back toward Mexico. He had penetrated into the very 
heart of the continent; he had been the first to lead an 
exploring party over the mountain ridges of the South¬ 
west, the first to describe the vast prairies of Kansas, the 
first to visit those regions which now form the central 
portion of our country. 



Spaniards’ picture of a buffalo 











THE SEARCH FOR THE SEVEN CITIES 41 

Two sad stories. — Of what afterward befell Coronado 
there are two stories. One relates that while he was still 
a long way from Mexico he fell suddenly from his horse. 
When his companions raised him from the ground they 
found that his reason was gone. Toil and anxiety had so 
worn upon him that he had become a madman. The 
other story, which is probably the true one, says that he 
led his men safe back to Mexico, where he gave to the 
viceroy a true account of his adventures. The viceroy 
was angry because of his failure to discover or bring back 
any treasures for Spain. He dismissed Coronado from his 
presence, and the young officer retired to his country 
home, where he died of a broken heart. 

REVIEW 

By whom was the Pacific Ocean discovered ? Who was the first 
to sail across it ? What part of the world was claimed by Spain ? 
For what purpose did Spanish adventurers come to America? What 
was the most important conquest made by the Spanish ? To what 
part of North America was the name Florida applied ? Why were 
the Spanish so anxious to conquer Florida ? Through what part of 
our country did Cabeza de Vaca pass ? Why did Fray Marcos give 
such glowing and incorrect accounts of his discoveries ? Through 
what parts of our country did Coronado pass ? Did his explorations 
lead to any valuable results ? 


FERDINAND DE SOTO 
A1STD THE SPANISH IN THE SOUTH 

Preparations for the conquest of Florida. — Ferdinand 

do Soto was a bold, ambitious officer who had already 
made himself famous by the doing of daring deeds in 
South America. The story of Cabeza de Yaca had led 
him to believe that there were indeed rich countries 
abounding in gold in the region known to the Spaniards 
by the general name of Florida. This region included all 
of the continent this side of Mexico and the Gulf; and 
more than one Spanish adventurer was anxious to risk life 
and fortune in its exploration. De Soto declared that 
with a few hundred men he could subdue the entire coun¬ 
try and conquer for Spain even greater treasures than 
had been obtained from Mexico. The king was pleased 
with his boasting, and made , him governor of Cuba, with 
authority to overrun and plunder whatever kingdoms he 
might discover in the neighboring region of Florida. 

On a May morning, in the same year that Coronado was 
preparing for his tour in search of the Seven Cities, 
De Soto * sailed from Cuba, intent on the conquest of 
Florida. He had nearly six hundred followers, — gentle¬ 
men dressed in doublets of silk, priests in their black 

42 


THE SPANISH IN THE SOUTH 


43 


robes, soldiers, mechanics, and serving men. There were 
also two hundred horses, a drove of hogs to supply pork 
for the men, and a number of savage 
bloodhounds to be used in chasing the 
Indians. 

The start. — De Soto and his little 
army landed on the west coast of 
Florida at a point somewhere on 
Tampa Bay. The ships were sent 
back to Cuba, and the Spaniards 
began a toilsome march through the 
forests. From the Indians they had 
heard vague stories of a land of gold 
and pearls far to the northeast, and . 

x 7 A Spanish soldier 

thither they turned their course. They 
could move but very slowly, for often they were obliged 
to cut their way through the thick underbrush, to swim 
deep, sluggish rivers, or to go long distances around 
impassable swamps. Then also they were obliged to 
be always on their guard against savage foes; for De 
Soto was very cruel to the Indians, and those whom 
he might have won by kindness soon became his bitter 
enemies. 

On the Savannah. — After months of toil the Spaniards 
came at length to the broad and beautiful river now 
known as the Savannah. There they discovered an Indian 
village with pleasant homes, and a people far more civi¬ 
lized than the savage tribes they had hitherto met. The 
ruler of this village and of the country around it was a 



44 


FERDINAND DE SOTO 


young Indian princess who welcomed De Soto with much 
show of friendship. She presented him with a neck¬ 
lace of pearls of great value, and commanded that half 
the houses in the village should be given up to his fol¬ 
lowers, who should be treated as the honored guests of 
her people. 

This kindness of the Indian princess was repaid by 
treachery. The Spaniards tore down the houses in search 
of treasures, and robbed even the graves of the natives in 
order to find the pearls that had been buried with the dead. 
And finally, when they left the place, De Soto carried the 
princess with him as a prisoner. Happily, while passing 
through a thick wood, she escaped from her guards, and 
the Spaniards never saw her again. 

The terrible march. — The explorers now marched to¬ 
wards the west, seeking always for gold, and plundering 
and destroying the Indian villages that were in their way. 
Bloody battles were fought, and thousands of the poor 
natives were killed or enslaved. The Spaniards lost their 
provisions, their horses, their arms. Many were ready to 
abandon the expedition and try to make their way back 
to the seashore; but De Soto would not listen to them. 
He had set his heart upon discovering and conquering a 
rich empire, and he was determined to succeed. And so 
they traveled onward through the country where now are 
the states of Georgia, Alabama, and Mississippi. Month 
after month they toiled through the never ending forest, 
suffering from hunger and sickness and many privations, 
but never ceasing their search for gold. 


THE SPANISH IN THE SOUTH 


45 


On the banks of the Mississippi. — At length, weary 
with the long and dreadful march, they came one day to 
the banks of a river much larger than any they had ever 
seen before. At the place where they stood it was a mile 
and a half wide, and the flood of waters which rolled past 
them was truly wonderful to behold. It was the river 
which the Indians called Missipi (Mississippi), or the Father 
of Waters. De Soto had probably heard of it before, for 
it was not unknown to the Spanish. More than twenty 
years earlier than this, Pineda, a sailor from Spain, had 
discovered it and sailed his ship into one of its broad 
mouths. Afterwards, Cabeza de Yaca and his companions 
having tried to enter it with their boat were carried far 
out into the Gulf by the force of its mighty current. 
De Soto caused a huge wooden cross to be erected upon 
the bank of the river, and while the priests chanted 
hymns and offered prayers, his soldiers humbly knelt and 
thanked God that their lives had been spared amid the 
thousand perils of the wilderness. 

Death of De Soto. — The Spaniards were delayed a 
month on the eastern side of the Mississippi, for they were 
obliged to build boats in which to carry themselves and 
their horses across the broad stream. When at length all 
were safely over they set out again, still determined upon 
the finding of gold. Northward they marched, and then 
westward an unknown distance until the hearts of all 
began to fail and their tireless leader himself became sick 
with a deadly fever. Then they returned to the banks of 
the great river, and there De Soto died. His followers, 


46 


FERDINAND DE SOTO 


fearing lest the Indians should find his body and do it 
harm, resolved to bury it in the river. They inclosed it 
in a heavy casket hewn from the trunk of an evergreen 
oak, and at midnight carried it far out from the shore and 
silently dropped it into the stream. 

Escape of his followers. — Three years had passed since 
De Soto had first landed on the coast of Florida. Of all 
the proud company that had followed him then, nearly 
half had perished in the wilderness. Those who were still 
alive made haste to escape from the country in which they 
had found neither gold nor glory, but only suffering and 
disappointment. In rude boats, which they hewed from 
the trees by the river, they floated down the Mississippi to 
its mouth; then following the winding coast westward, 
they at last arrived at a small Spanish settlement in 
Mexico. Half dead with hunger and exposure, and clothed 
in the skins of wild beasts, these men who had started out 
in fine array, with silk doublets and glittering arms, now 
fell empty-handed upon the beach, and gave thanks that 
their lives were still their own. 

REVIEW 

What induced De Soto to undertake the conquest of Florida ? 
Where is Tampa Bay ? Where is the Savannah River ? Why did 
the Spaniards repay the kindness of the natives with cruelty? 
Through what parts of our country did De Soto march ? Who was 
the first discoverer of the Mississippi? Why did the Spanish 
claim all the country north of the Gulf of Mexico ? What other 
nation also claimed a large part of the same region ? Did De Soto’s 
expedition lead to any good results ? 


SIR FRANCIS DRAKE 


AND THE FIRST ENGLISH VOYAGE ROUND THE 
WORLD 

I. A BOLD YOUNG SAILOR 

A sailor boy. — In the south of England, on the 
shore of the English Channel, there is a famous old sea¬ 
port town called Plymouth. Here, about three hundred 
and fifty years ago, there lived a brave sailor lad whose 
name was Francis Drake. This boy loved the sea. His 
first home was the hulk of an old ship that lay on the 
beach by Plymouth 
harbor. The first 
sound that he re¬ 
membered was that 
of roaring winds and 
dashing waves. 

He liked to listen 
to the talk of sailors 
who had been to dis¬ 
tant ports. From 
them and from others 
he heard much about the Spanish; how strong they were 
on the sea; how their ships were all the time sailing back 

47 



Spanish ships of war 



48 


SIR FRANCIS DRAKE 


and forth, carrying the treasures of India and America to 
Spain; and how they claimed all the countries of the 
West, and even the Pacific Ocean, as their own. And as 
he listened, he grew angry with the thought that his own 
country, England, was so poor and weak, while Spain was 
so strong and great. 

“Some time,” he said, clinching his fists, “I will show 
those proud Spaniards that the world does not all belong 
to them.” 

And so, as he grew up, Francis Drake’s mind was full 
of hatred for Spain and everything Spanish. But he was 
a good sailor, strong and trustworthy; and he had scarcely 
become a man before he had a ship of his own. For a 
time he made only short voyages to the ports along the 
English Channel. Then with his uncle. John Hawkins, 
who was a great sea captain, he sailed to the west coast 
of Africa, where he loaded his ship with captive negroes. 
What would he do with these negroes ? 

Slaves in America. ■—- In the Spanish settlements in 
America there was a great demand for slaves. The Span¬ 
iards had at first tried to make slaves of the Indians; but 
these would suffer death rather than submit to be driven 
by a master, and many thousands of them perished. Then 
it was found that negroes were better workers and more 
easy to control; and therefore great numbers of black men 
were captured in Africa and carried to the West Indies 
and the Spanish Main, as the north coast of South America 
was called. The most of these captives were put to work 
in the mines, and kept there until they died. Their Span- 


A BOLD YOUNG SAILOR 


49 



ish masters found that it was cheaper to buy new slaves 
than to take care of the old; hence, as I have said, there 
was always a demand for more and more negroes. 

The first English slave traders. — Francis Drake and 
Captain Hawkins sailed with their negroes across the 


“He tried to capture the Spanish treasure house ” 

Atlantic, hoping to sell them to the Spaniards. They 
were the first Englishmen who had attempted to do 
this; for none but Spanish ships were permitted to 
trade with the Spanish settlements in America, they 
sailed boldly into a little seaport on the Spanish Main, 
and made their errand known. The miners and traders 
barnes’s el, 




50 


SIR FRANCIS DRAKE 


were very anxious to buy the slaves, but they were afraid 
to break the law by trading with Englishmen. 

After much trouble, however, the negroes were sold at 
a high price, and Drake and Hawkins were delighted with 
the prospect of going home with the gold and gems they 
had received. But before they could get out of the har¬ 
bor they were attacked by the Spaniards. Not being strong 
enough to resist, they were robbed of all their gains, and 
were glad enough to escape in their empty ships. They 
returned to England poorer than when they went away. 

This adventure caused Francis Drake to hate Spain 
and the Spaniards more than before. He made several 
other voyages to the West Indies and the Spanish Main. 
At one time he tried to capture the Spanish treasure 
house near Darien; but just in the moment of victory he 
was severely wounded, his men were panic-stricken, and 
he was carried back to his ship. He was obliged to sail 
away empty-handed. 

II. THE FIRST ENGLISHMAN ON THE PACIFIC 

Drake sees the Pacific. — On another occasion Drake 
formed a plan to waylay a company of Spaniards that were 
carrying gold and silver across the isthmus. While wait¬ 
ing for this company on the highest ridge of the moun¬ 
tains, he one day climbed a tall tree and looked about 
him. On the south of him, seeming to be almost at his 
feet, he saw the mighty Pacific, just as Balboa had seen it 
seventy years before. No other Englishman had ever 
beheld that wonderful ocean. No ships save those of Spain 


THE FIRST ENGLISHMAN ON THE PACIFIC 51 

had ever sailed upon it. The sight of the vast water, 
gleaming and sparkling in the sunlight, filled Drake with 
a great longing to know more about it. What right had 
Spain to keep it from all the other nations of the world ? 

And so the brave captain, while still in the tree, knelt 
among the branches and vowed that he would, some day, 
sail an English ship on that ocean. 

More than one company of treasure carriers fell into 
the hands of Drake and his men, and so much gold and 
silver was taken that only a part could be gotten to his 
ship. The rest had to be left behind. 

A bold voyage. — The next year, true to his vow, 
Drake did sail an English ship on the Pacific. He boldly 
passed through the Strait of Magellan; and then on board 
of the vessel which he called the Golden Hind , he cruised 
along the western coast of South America. He plundered 
the Spanish towns by the shore, and captured several 
richly laden treasure ships. 

At length, when the Golden Hind was loaded with 
as much silver and gold as she could carry, Drake began 
to ask himself how he should get safely back to England. 
He could not return by the way he had come, for the 
Spaniards were now aroused, and Spanish war ships were 
watching for him by the Strait of Magellan. He there¬ 
fore sailed northward looking for some passage across or 
around North America through which he could sail to 
the Atlantic. But there was none. 

California. — Other men would have been in despair; 
but Francis Drake never thought of failure. He explored 


52 


SIR FRANCIS DRAKE 



the coast of California, which he called New Albion, and 
took possession of the country in the name of Queen 
Elizabeth. In a sheltered bay, not far from where San 
Francisco now is, he spent several weeks, putting his ship 
in condition for a long voyage. Then he steered her 


“ And made him a knight, then and there ” 

straight out into the Pacific. If Spanish vessels could 
cross that vast ocean, surely the Golden Hind could do as 
much. 

Round the world. —And so, westward and ever west¬ 
ward, the brave little vessel sailed. She passed through 
wastes of unknown waters and among strange, savage 
islands, just as Magellan’s ship had done, sixty years be¬ 
fore. She sailed through the seas south of the Philip-. 











THE FIRST ENGLISHMAN ON THE PACIFIC 53 

pines, then cruised among the Spice Islands and boldly 
entered the Indian Ocean. Finally she passed round the 
Cape of Good Hope and sped swiftly and safely home. 

As Magellan’s ship, the Victoria , had been the first of 
all vessels to sail round the world, so Drake’s Golden 
Hind was the first English ship to perform that hazardous 
feat. The voyage was indeed a wonderful one, and soon 
all England was talking about it. 

Drake knighted. — Queen Elizabeth was so well pleased 
that she visited Drake on his ship in Plymouth harbor, 
and made him a knight, then and 
there. From that day he was Sir 
Francis Drake, and everybody hon¬ 
ored him as the Englishman who 
had done most to humble the pride 
of Spain. The Golden Hind was 
kept with care for many years in 
memory of her wonderful voyage. 

When, at last, her hull began to 
decay, a chair was made from some 
of the timber; and that chair may 
still be seen in the university at 
Oxford. 

exploits. —This was not the end of Diake s 
exploits. Five years later, with a great fleet of war ships, 
he made another expedition against the Spanish in the 
West Indies. He attacked St. Augustine, a Spanish set¬ 
tlement in Florida, and sailed up our Atlantic coast as 
far as to Roanoke Island in North Carolina. Afterwards, 



Chair made from the 
“ Golden Hind ” 


64 


SIR FRANCIS DRAKE 


with a still stronger fleet, he attacked the Spaniards in their 
own seaport of Cadiz and destroyed many of their vessels. 
His last expedition was against Porto Bello on the Spanish 
Main; but, before reaching the end of the voyage, he died 
on shipboard and was buried at sea. 

Why Drake is remembered. — Sir Francis Drake is 
honored in his own country because he was the first 
to make England’s power felt on the sea. He is remem¬ 
bered by Americans because he was one of the first to 
turn the attention of the English people toward the 
great continent which John Cabot had discovered for 
them nearly a hundred years before. 

REVIEW 

Why were the Spanish unwilling that the ships of any other 
nation should sail on the Pacific ? How did they carry the goods 
and treasures of India to Spain ? Why did Francis Drake hate the 
Spanish? Why did the Spaniards in America wish so many negro 
slaves ? Why did they not make slaves of the Indians ? What was 
the name of the first English ship that ever sailed on the Pacific? 
What part of North America was discovered by Drake ? Why did 
he not return to England by way of the Strait of Magellan? In 
what way were Drake’s exploits of assistance to England ? In what 
way were they of importance to our own country ? 


SIR WALTER RALEIGH 
AND THE FIRST ENGLISH COLONISTS 

I. THE QUEEN’S FAVORITE 

A courtly act. — In England, in the days of Queen 
Elizabeth, there lived a noble young man whose name 
was Walter Raleigh. He was so brave and wise, and his 
manners were so courtly and kind, that he drew many 
friends to him and became the favorite of the rich and 
powerful who gathered at the court of the queen. 

One day as he was crossing a street in London, he saw 
the queen with her train of lords and ladies going down 
1° the water side for a sail on the river. There had 
been a ram that morning, and across the queen s 
pathway there was an ugly puddle of mud too wide for 
her to step over. What was to be done ? 

While the queen hesitated, and her puzzled attendants 
were looking one at another, Walter Raleigh came up. 
He saw at a glance what the trouble was, and he acted at 
once. He wore a beautiful cloak of crimson velvet 
trimmed with gold and costly lace. This he took from 
his shoulders and spread upon the mud, so that the 
queen could step upon it and pass over without soiling 
her shoes. 


55 


56 


SIR WALTER RALEIGH 



Raleigh a knight. — The act was done so gracefully 
that the queen was much pleased. In a few days she sent 
for young Raleigh, and when he had come to her palace 
she bade him kneel before her. Then with the flat of his 
sword she struck him gently three times upon 1 the 
shoulders and said, u Rise, Sir Walter Raleigh. It is thus 


“ This he took from his shoulders and spread upon the mud " 

that we make thee a knight.” And from that time, Sir 
Walter Raleigh was in high favor at the court of 
Elizabeth. 

Sir Humphrey Gilbert. — Just then there was much 
talk about the new continent of America and about the 
voyages which Sir Francis Drake had made to the Spanish 
Main and the Pacific. Many Englishmen were beginning 




THE QUEEN’S FAVORITE 


57 


to wonder whether the wild, unexplored land across the 
sea might not yet bring as much wealth to England as 
Mexico and the Indies had brought to Spain. 

“Why not send out a colony, and make an English 
settlement in America ? ” asked Sir Humphrey Gilbert. 

This Sir Humphrey was a half-brother of Sir Walter 
Raleigh, and he too had great influence with the queen. 
And so, about the time that Drake returned from his 
famous voyage round the world, permission was obtained 
from Elizabeth to found a colony in America. It was to 
be somewhere north of the Spanish province of Florida, 
and Sir Humphrey Gilbert was to be its governor. 

The first attempt at settlement.—Four ships were 
fitted out, and a number of men volunteered to go on 
them as colonists. Among these were carpenters and 
blacksmiths and wheelwrights and gardeners, and others 
intent on making themselves new homes in the great un¬ 
known land. 

The little fleet sailed, with Sir Humphrey as its cap¬ 
tain. But the sea was stormy, and the weather was cold; 
and when the voyagers came in sight of land it was the 
bleak and rocky coast of Newfoundland. One of the ships 
turned back, and one was wrecked; and when the others 
would have gone on to the mainland, a dreadful tempest 
drove them hither and thither, and all on board begged to 
be taken back to England. 

And so Sir Humphrey unwillingly gave orders to turn 
about and sail for home. The sea was full of huge 
icebergs floating down from the frozen North, the wind 


58 


SIR WALTER RALEIGH 


blew fearfully, and tbe waves seemed mountain high. 
“Do not fear/’ said Sir Humphrey to his companions; 
“ heaven is as near on the sea as on the land.” And that 
night his ship went down. 

II. VIRGINIA 

Discovery of Carolina.—Very great was Sir Walter 

Raleigh’s grief and disappointment; but he did not 
despair. The next ‘ year he sent out other ships to 
sail along the Atlantic coast and find the best place 
for a colony. These ships took a more southerly 
course; for their masters were unwilling to brave the 
stormy, icy seas in which Sir Humphrey had been over¬ 
whelmed. 

At length they sighted the long, low coast of Carolina, 
and anchored somewhere in the shallow bay now called 
Albemarle Sound. The crews went ashore. They thought 
the land was the most beautiful in the world. In the 
woods were giant trees of kinds unknown in England. 
There was great abundance of grapes and plums and 
other wild fruit, all to be had for the gathering. Game 
was plentiful, and the rivers and inlets were full of fish. 
The Indians were friendly; and, what seemed the best 
of all, they told of a country not far away where gold 
and precious stones could be picked up without labor or 
trouble. 

Virginia. — The ships did not stay long in that charm¬ 
ing place. The captains were eager to carry the news 
back to England. When they told Sir Walter of the 


VIRGINIA 


59 


pleasant country they had found, and showed him the 
furs and other things they had brought home, he too 
was delighted. “ I will plant an English colony there,” 
he said; and he named the whole country Virginia, in 
honor of Elizabeth the virgin queen. 

The second attempt at settlement. — Soon after this, 
Sir Walter sent out other ships with a number of men to 
form a settlement as he had planned. But these men did 
not find the country so beautiful; and when the ships 
left them and returned to England, they grew restless 
and discontented. 

They were rude to the Indians, and caused them to 
become unfriendly. They would not work, but spent 
their time wandering here and there in search of gold. 
At last their food was all gone; the time for wild 
fruits was past; they could find no game in the forest; 
they could take no fish in the streams. They would 
have perished with hunger had not Sir Francis Drake 
chanced to sail along the coast with an English fleet. 
They told him of their distress, and begged him to carry 
them back to England; and, as there was plenty of room 
on his ships, he consented to do so. 

Roots and leaves. —No doubt Sir Walter Raleigh was 
vexed and disappointed when his colonists returned with 
doleful tales of the sufferings they had endured in Vir¬ 
ginia. They had found no gold nor precious stones, and 
they brought only some roots and leaves which they told 
Raleigh were held in high esteem by the Indians. The 
roots were potatoes, the leaves were tobacco — both then 


60 


SIR WALTER RALEIGH 


first made known to Englishmen. Very worthless they 
must have seemed; and yet such roots and such leaves 
afterwards added more to the wealth of the world than 
all the gold in the treasure houses of Spain. 


III. THE LOST COLONY 


The third attempt at settlement. — In spite of all 

discouragements, Raleigh persevered in his plan of found- 


ld igHH 


ing a settlement in Virginia. 
Three ships were made ready, 
and a hundred and fifty 
colonists were sent over, 
with Captain John White as 
their governor. Some of the 
men took their wives with 
them, and all were happy 
with the thought of making 
themselves homes in the 
strange new land beyond 
the sea. They landed on 
Roanoke Island, and laid 
out a town which they 
named the City of Raleigh. 
They put up a few little 
houses of logs and bark, and 
for a time were very busy 
and contented. Thus, on 
that lonely shore, with the untamed wilderness on every 
side, the first English homes in our country were begun. 



‘She was named Virginia Dare” 


THE LOST COLONY 


61 


Virginia Dare. — In one of these homes, only a few 
weeks after the landing, a baby girl was born. She was 
the granddaughter of Captain White, and she was named 
Virginia Dare. We remember her because she was the 
first English child born in America. 

The colony disappears. — Before the end of summer, 
Captain White felt that he must return to England to get 



“The only sign or message that was left behind” 


some needed supplies for his colony. He sailed away 
with his ships, and the settlers on Roanoke Island were 
left alone. A great war was going on between England 
and Spain, and Spanish ships were patrolling the sea. 






62 


SIR WALTER RALEIGH 


Three years passed before Captain White dared return 
to America; and then very sad was his disappointment. 

He found the island of Roanoke deserted. The City 
of Raleigh was overgrown with weeds and shrubs. The 
houses were in ruins. The colony had disappeared. What 
became of the men and women and of little Virginia 
Dare, nobody knows. The only sign or message that was 
left behind was the word “ Croatan,” carved upon a tree. 
Did this mean that they had gone to a place of that name ? 
Captain White sought for them far and near, but no 
word or token of them could he discover. 

The search for the lost colony.—Sir Walter Raleigh 
would never believe that the colonists were dead, and he 
sent out more than one ship to sail up and down the 
coast in the hope of finding them. But he did not try 
to establish another settlement in Virginia. He had spent 
a large part of his fortune, and accomplished nothing. 
And yet he never ceased to believe that Virginia would 
soon become the home of a busy and happy people. 

REVIEW 

Of what country was Elizabeth the queen? When? What 
kind of man was Sir Walter Raleigh ? Why did he wish to send 
an English colony to America? Why did the expedition of Sir 
Humphrey Gilbert prove a failure? To what part of the coast o* 
North America did Sir Walter next turn his attention ? Did not all 
this coast belong to Spain ? Why was it claimed by England ? 
What name did Raleigh give to all the eastern coast of our country ? 
Why did his first colony fail ? What valuable things did the colo¬ 
nists carry back to England? Why did the second colony fail? 
Why did Raleigh continue to seek for the lost colonists? 


POCAHONTAS 

AND THE SETTLEMENT OF VIRGINIA 
I. AN INDIAN PRINCESS 

A child of the forest. — Three hundred years ago, in 
that part of our country which we call Virginia, there 
lived a little Indian girl whose 
father was the head war-chief of 
a tribe called Powhatans. He 
was known as the Powhatan or 
“ king.” The little girl was so 
lively and so fond of romping 
and playing that her father gave 
her the pet name of Pocahontas, 
which in his language meant 
about the same as u tom-boy.” 

And that is the name by which 
she has always been known. 

Pocahontas, being the daugh¬ 
ter of a king, was therefore a 
princess. Her face was dark but 
handsome. Her hair was straight and very black. Her 
eyes were large and bright. Her body was lithe and 
slender. She was a true child of the forest. 

63 








POCAHONTAS 


t)4 


Her dress was made for the most part of the skins of 
wild animals, prettily ornamented with beads and feathers 
and fringes. In her ears she wore rings of copper, and on 
one wrist she had a bracelet of the same metal. For shoes 
she had soft moccasins of deerskin, adorned with sweet¬ 
smelling grasses and the quills of porcupines. 

The mother of the little princess was dressed much in 
the same way. But her face and arms were tattooed with 
strange figures of beasts and birds and snakes; and she 
wore over her shoulders a mantle of deerskin embroidered 
with feathers and brightly colored grasses. 

Her father and his men were also clad in skins. On 
heads they wore eagles’ feathers. 
Some wore broad rings of copper in 
their ears. Others had, instead, 
small green and yellow snakes that 
twined around their necks and were 
used as pets. The Indian warriors 
smeared their faces and shoulders 
with red paint; and he who made 
himself the most hideous was usually 
the most admired. 

The home of Pocahontas was a 
small village near the stream now 
called York Biver. The houses in 
this village were very oddly built 
of poles and the branches of trees. These were bent and 
fastened together, and covered over with mats and broad 
strips of bark. Some of the houses were more than a 


their 



“The houses were oddly 
built ” 




AN INDIAN PRINCESS 


65 


hundred feet long, and large enough for several families. 
In the middle of each there was a fireplace on the ground; 
and over the fireplace was a large hole in the roof for the 
smoke to pass through. 

There was not much furniture in a house: mats, bas¬ 
kets, earthen pots, a stone mortar for pounding corn — 
and that was all. The floor was covered with twigs and 
leaves and sweet grass. At night the inmates slept around 
the fire, lying on mats and skins that were spread on soft 
bundles of twigs. 

How the Indians worked. — The men spent most of 
their time in fishing and hunting, or in going to war 
and fighting. All the hard work was done by the women 
and children. They made the mats and the clothing. 
They planted the corn and gathered it. They pounded 
it in mortars, and made bread of the meal. They 
carried wood from the forest; they built the fires; they 
cooked the food. 

All around the village there were cleared fields where 
the women planted their corn. Here and there in the 
forest were other cleared places in which were the homes 
of one or more families of Indians. Where the city of 
Richmond now stands there was a village of ten or a 
dozen houses pleasantly built on a hill. This village, as 
well as the great river beside it, was called by the same 
name as the tribe, Powhatan. 

Fishing. — Pocahontas was her father’s favorite child, 
and therefore she had her own way about many things. 
No doubt she was sometimes allowed to go fishing with 

barnes’s el. — 5 


G6 


POCAHONTAS 



her uncle or cousins. They went in a clumsy boat 
that had been made from the trunk of a tree by burning 
one side of it out until it was shaped like a trough. Some 
of these boats were forty or fifty feet long. The men 


“A clumsy boat made from the trunk of a tree” 

fished with nets or with hooks. The nets were made of 
strong cords which the women had twisted from the inner 
bark of trees or from slender blades of grass. The hooks 
were made of small crooked bones, smoothed and sharp¬ 
ened until they served their purpose very well. 

The fishermen never failed to carry their bows and 





THE COMING OF THE WHITE MEN 


67 


arrows with them. They were always on the lookout for 
squirrels in the trees, or for wild turkeys among the under¬ 
woods by the river. They kept a close watch for enemies, 
too; for they never knew when some skulking fellow from 
an unfriendly tribe would be lying in wait to do them harm. 

How time passed. — March and April were the great 
fishing months. In May and June the women planted the 
fields, and there were many squirrels in the woods. In 
July and August, the children gathered wild berries, and 
some of the people hunted for crabs and oysters and turtles 
in the river and bay. In September and October the corn 
was ripe, and everybody had plenty to eat. But Indians 
are great wasters, and when winter came it often happened 
that there was very little to eat in the village. Then 
the young men went out hunting; and, although they 
found plenty for themselves, they were not always ready 
to bring home game to the hungry women and children. 

II. THE COMING OF THE WHITE MEN 

The white strangers. — When Pocahontas was about 
ten years old, an alarming occurrence took place. Some 
of the men who had been hunting near the great river of 
the Powhatans reported that they had seen three huge 
boats with white wings coming up the stream. These 
vessels moved as if they were alive, for no paddles or oars 
were used to push them forward. When they reached a 
point about fifteen miles from the village, they stopped; 
their wings were folded; and then the men who were 
on board went ashore. 


68 


POCAHONTAS 


Very strange men they seemed to the simple Indians. 
Their faces were pale, they wore long beards, they were 
dressed in odd-looking clothes. Instead of bows and 
arrows, they carried clumsy pieces of wood and metal 
from which they could at will send out flashes of light¬ 
ning and dreadful sounds like thunder. 

The Indians alarmed. — “ Ah,” said one of the older 
warriors, “ now we shall indeed have to be on our guard. 
We have all heard about these white men, how treacherous 
and savage they are. Only a few years ago one of their 
great boats made its way up the Chesapeake. It came to 
land, and many of our people went to see and welcome 
the strangers. They gave the white men food, and were 
kind to them; and how were they repaid ? 

“ Some young men were enticed on board of the vessel. 
They were kept there against their will, and carried away, 
no one knows whither. We have heard, too, how children 
and women have been stolen, and how our people in many 
places have been robbed and abused by the men with 
pale faces. Would it not be better to drive them away 
and not allow them to get a foothold in our country ? ” 

“ Let us wait,” said others, and among them the chief 
Powhatan; “let us not be hasty. And while we are 
kind to these strangers, we must not trust them too far.” 

m. JAMESTOWN 

Ships from England. — The three white-winged boats 
which had made so great stir among the Indians, were 
ships from England. On board of them were one hun* 


JAMESTOWN 


69 


dred and five men who had come to Virginia to form a 
settlement. They had been sent thither by a company 
of London merchants, and they hoped to find much gold 
and many precious stones in the new country. 

It was spring; and as they sailed up the broad river 
of the Powhatans, they were delighted with everything 
1607 they saw. The day was warm and clear. The air 
was fragrant with the odor of wild flowers. It 
seemed as though both earth and sky were welcoming 
the strangers to their new home. 

The hew settlement. — They called the river the 
James, in honor of the English king. And the place 
which they chose for their settlement they called James¬ 
town. When they landed they set to work to build rude 
shelters of poles and bark and brush in which to live. 
They also put up a little fort in which to protect them¬ 
selves from the Indians, and they surrounded it with a 
high fence, or palisade, of logs set upright in the ground. 

Distress of the settlers.—As soon as the fort was 
finished the ships sailed back to England, leaving the 
settlers to take care of themselves. Many of these 
were not used to work. They had expected to do 
nothing but pick up gold and live at their ease, and they 
did not know how to provide themselves with food. 
Hence they had a very sorry time of it for several 
months. They had nothing to eat but a little boiled 
barley each day, and now and then a crab or a fish which 
they caught in the river. Many of them grew sick 
and died; and to make matters still worse, those who 


70 


POCAHONTAS 



were well were always quarreling among themselves 
and lamenting that they were not back in England. 
Some Indians of an unknown tribe gave them a great 
deal of trouble, and sometimes shot their stone-tipped 


“They had a very sorry time of it” 

arrows into the town. But the Powhatan Indians were 
more friendly. They often visited Jamestown, and some¬ 
times carried green corn and other food to the hungry 
settlers. 

John Smith. — One day the little princess, Pocahontas, 
went with some of her father’s people to visit the white 
strangers at Jamestown. The Englishmen were very kind 
and took great pains to amuse her. She noticed that one 
of the men, whose name was John Smith, seemed to be the 
leader of the company. Although he was not their gov- 




CAPTIVITY OF JOHN SMITH 


71 


ernor, the men listened to what he said and generally 
followed his advice. His face was bearded, his eyes were 
keen and sparkling, his whole manner was that of one 
who was both brave and wise. Pocahontas admired him 
very much. It was he who did the trading with the 
Indians. He bought their corn, he dealt justly with 
them, and he would not permit the idle men of the 
colony to abuse them. 

IV. CAPTIVITY OF JOHN SMITH 

Exciting News. — A short time after this, exciting 
news was brought to the village where Pocahontas lived. 
The Englishman, Captain John Smith, had been taken 
captive. He was a prisoner in the hands of a band of 
Indians led by an uncle of Pocahontas. 

It had come about in this way. Captain Smith had 
gone out with some men in a boat to explore the country. 
After rowing some distance up one of the smaller rivers, 
he had left the boat and had gone on with two white men 
and two Indians in a canoe. Near a great marsh now 
called White Oak Swamp they landed. There the Indians 
attacked them, — for their chief, th-e uncle of Pocahontas, 
had never felt friendly toward the English. Smith’s 
two companions were killed, and he himself was taken 
prisoner. The warriors wanted to put him to death. 
They tied him to a tree, and made ready to torture him 
by shooting and burning. 

But Smith was not afraid. He held up a round ivory 
pocket compass which he was in the habit of carrying. 


72 


POCAHONTAS 


He showed the Indians how the needle always pointed to 
the north. He motioned toward the sun and the sky. 
With strange gestures he spoke of the moon and the 
stars. The chief began to believe that the white man 
was a wizard. He bade his warriors untie him and do 
bim no harm. There should be no haste in putting him 
to death. 

For several days thereafter Smith was kept a close 
prisoner. The uncle of Pocahontas took him from village 
to village and showed him to all the warriors of the tribe. 

u Is this the white man who came here a few years 
ago and carried away some of our young men ? ” he asked. 

“No,” was the answer, “this is not the man. The 
white chief who did that wicked thing was tall, very tall; 
but this man is short and heavy set.” 

Before the great Powhatan. — Then the warriors car¬ 
ried their captive to the village where Pocahontas lived, 
and asked her father what should be done with him. 

The chief Powhatan received Smith in his great house. 
He was sitting on a bench by the fireplace, with a robe of 
raccoon skins thrown over his shoulders. Near him was 
his little daughter, eager to see the white man whom she 
had so much admired when in Jamestown. Around him 
stood two rows of grim warriors, and behind them were as 
many women with their faces painted red and their necks 
encircled with chains of white beads. 

When Smith was led into the room all the warriors 
and women shouted. One of the women brought him 
water to wash his hands, and another gave him a bunch 


CAPTIVITY OF JOHN SMITH 


73 


of feathers, instead of a towel, to dry them. Then they 
made a feast for him, giving him all kinds of choice food. 

While he was eating, the chiefs and warriors held a 
grand council to decide what was to be done with him. 

Saved by Pocahontas. — 

At length the council was 
ended and two great stones 
were carried in and placed 
before the chief Powhatan. 

Several warriors then took 
hold of Smith and dragged 
him across the room. They 
laid his head on the stones, 
and with upraised clubs stood 
ready to beat out his brains. 

But, just as the great chief 
was about to speak the word, 
the princess Pocahontas threw 
herself down by the captive 
and laid her head upon his to save him from death. 

Her father’s stern face grew kind. He could not 
refuse anything that his little daughter asked. He bade 
his warriors put away their clubs. He told Smith that he 
would spare his life. 

The Adoption. — Two days later Smith was adopted 
into the tribe. It was done in this way. He was taken 
to a large house in the midst of the woods, and left alone 
on a mat by the fire. For a little while there was scarcely 
a sound to be heard. Then suddenly the chief Powhatan 




74 


POCAHONTAS 


with a great band of warriors, all painted in the most 
hideous fashion, burst into the house with shouts and yells 
too frightful to describe. But when the savages saw that 
Smith was not afraid, they changed their tone and told him 
that they would forever after be his friends and brothers. 
The chief Powhatan promised to give him a great tract 



“He was taken to a large house in the midst of the woods” 


of land on condition that he would go to Jamestown 
and send him two big guns and a grindstone. 

Return to Jamestown.—Twelve guides returned to 
Jamestown with Smith, and they were instructed to bring 
back the presents. At the fort Smith showed them two 
small cannon and a millstone. The savages tried to carry 
them but found them too hea-vy. Then Smith loaded one 





A NEW GOVERNOR 


75 


of the guns with small stones and discharged it into a tree 
that was coated with ice — for it was a cold day and there 
was sleet. The great noise that was made and the rat¬ 
tling of the ice from the tree so frightened the Indians 
that they ran into the woods and could scarcely be per¬ 
suaded to return. In the end, however, Smith gave them 
a number of trinkets and toys for the women and children 
— and doubtless a fine present for Pocahontas — and they 
went gladly back to their village. 

On that same day a ship arrived from England bring¬ 
ing many new settlers and a plentiful supply of food. 
Things began to have a more hopeful look; and when the 
ship returned to England it carried a glowing account of 
the prosperity of the colony in Virginia. 

V. A NEW GOVERNOR 

The friend of the Englishmen. — Pocahontas often 
visited Jamestown, and she became known as the friend 
of the Englishmen. When they were in need of food she 
contrived to have corn carried to them. When the Indians 
grew restless, and threatened to destroy the little settle¬ 
ment, she sent warnings to Smith to be on his guard. 

Smith the president.—After a while Smith was chosen 
to be the president of the colony. He managed so wisely 
and well that Jamestown was soon an orderly and pros¬ 
perous place. Most of the men went to work with a will. 
They cleared ground for gardens and farms, and planted 
corn and garden vegetables. But in spite of all this there 
were still times of great scarcity and suffering. The 


76 


POCAHONTAS 


Indians could not be depended upon. The only one who 
never failed the colonists was Pocahontas. 

Lord Delaware.—The London merchants who had sent 
this colony to Virginia were much disappointed because no 

gold had been found in that 
country. They had been at 
great expense in establishing 
the settlement and they did 
not believe that Captain Smith 
was managing things very 
well. They therefore asked 
and obtained from the king 
some new privileges for their 
colony, and Lord Delaware was 
sent' out to be governor of 
Virginia. 

Smith returns to Eng¬ 
land. — About this time Smith 
met with a sad accident. 
Some powder exploded near him, and he was badly 
burned. His work in Virginia was finished, and as a ship 
was about to sail for England he embarked in it and 
returned home. Pocahontas was much grieved when she 
found that he had gone. But she still remained firmly 
attached to the English. 

Hard times. — For several years after Smith’s depar¬ 
ture, the colony had much trouble. The settlers mistreated 
the Indians, and the Indians became very unfriendly. 
Even the chief Powhatan began to plan how to destroy 



The beginnings of Virginia 




THE LADY REBECCA 


77 


the English. His people would sell no more corn to 
them. There was but little food in Jamestown. At 
times the settlers were in great distress, and many died 
of hunger. Some who ventured too far from the town 
were waylaid and killed by Indians. Some of the boldest 
and roughest seized a vessel that was in the river and 
sailed away to become pirates. Had not help come from 
England, the colony would have perished. 


VI. THE LADY REBECCA 


A treacherous act. — Pocahontas was now grown up to 
womanhood. By pleading with her father, and by giving 
timely warning to the settlers, she 
had saved the colony from destruc¬ 
tion. Some of the English thought 
that if they could keep her with them 
as a prisoner, her father and his war¬ 
riors would not dare to do them harm. 

So they persuaded an old chief to 
betray her into their hands. They 
promised to give him a copper ket¬ 
tle if he would entice her on board 
of a ship that was moored in the river. 

The old chief wanted the kettle very much. He would 
do anything to get it. So he and his wife persuaded 
Pocahontas to go with them to look at something on the 
ship. Then the captain refused to let her go on shore 
again. Although the English were still kind to Pocahontas 
they would not let her go back to her people. They kept 



The Lady Rebecca 

(As she appeared in England) 


78 


POCAHONTAS 


her as a prisoner for a whole year, and during that time 
her father did not dare to harm them. 

A wedding. — At length an English gentleman, whose 
name was John Rolfe, fell in love with Pocahontas and 
wished to make her his wife. The chief Powhatan gave his 



“ There was a great wedding at Jamestown ” 


consent to the marriage, and there was a great wedding at 
Jamestown. Pocahontas was baptized at the little English 
church, and was given a new name, Rebecca. She was 
very happy with her English husband. The white people 
and red people were once more at peace and the colony 
prospered. 







THE LADY REBECCA 


79 


In England.—Two years later, John Rolfe and his 
Indian wife went to England, taking with them their 
baby boy. The Lady Rebecca, as Pocahontas was called, 
had readily learned the ways of the English, and now she 
appeared as a gentle and well-bred lady. She was honored 
as a princess, and was kindly received even in the palace 
of the king. One day to her great surprise she met her 
old acquaintance, John Smith. “ Ah, my good friend,” 
she said, “ they told me in Virginia that you were dead.” 
And she insisted that he should permit her, after the 
Indian fashion, to call him her father. 

Just as she was about to return to Virginia she was 
taken ill, and in a few days she died. Her little boy 
remained in England, where he was educated and grew 
up to be a fine gentleman. Her father, the chief Pow¬ 
hatan, did not live long after her death. The colony 
of Virginia grew rapidly and became much larger and 
stronger. But the Indians ceased to be friendly, and 
there was much trouble and bloodshed before the English 
were altogether safe and happy in their new homes. 

REVIEW 

Describe now the Indians of Virginia lived. Why did they look 
upon the white men with suspicion ? How many ships and how 
many men came first to the James River to form a settlement? 
Who was the leading man in this company ? What did most of the 
men expect to find in Virginia? What services did Pocahontas 
perform for the colony ? Why did the English wish to keep her as 
a prisoner ? Why was a new governor sent out to Virginia ? Why 
was not the colony more prosperous at first ? 


HENRY HUDSON 

AND THE DUTCH SETTLEMENT OF NEW YORK 
I. SEEKING NEW ROUTES TO THE PACIFIC 

Henry Hudson was born in London at about the time 
that Drake was making his famous voyage round the 
world. The first talk that he heard, after he was old 
enough to understand, was about ships and merchandise and 
the wealth of the Indies. For his father and grandfather 
and uncles and cousins were engaged in trade with foreign 
countries, and the earnest wish of every London merchant 
was that a way might be opened for English ships to reach 
the Far East. 

It was the custom for the sons of these merchants to 
learn not only about the buying and selling of goods but 
also about the sailing and management of ships ; and so 
Henry Hudson* when yet a mere lad, was sent to sea. I 
think that he must have proved to be a better sailor than 
merchant, for nearly all his life thereafter, so far as we 
know, was spent on the water. 

The trade with India. — At that time Spain and 
Portugal controlled all the trade with India. Spain 
guarded the only approaches to the Pacific Ocean, and 
Portugal claimed that her ships alone had the right to sail 

80 


SEEKING NEW ROUTES TO THE PACIFIC 


81 


around the Cape of Good Hope. The other nations of 
Europe could not trade with the Far East, because all the 
known routes thither were closed against them. They 
were therefore very anxious to discover some new passage¬ 
way into the Pacific. 

The shortest way to India. — French ships sailed up 
the St. Lawrence River with the vain hope that through 
it they might reach the western ocean. English ships 
explored the coast far to the northward, to see if they 
might not get around the continent in that way. Then 
some one said, “ The shortest line from England to China 
is one drawn right over the North Pole.” And by 
looking at a globe you will see that he was not far 
from right. 

And so a company of merchants, among whom were 
kinsmen of Henry Hudson, resolved to send out a ship to 
see whether a northern route to India might not be discov¬ 
ered. They fitted up an old vessel, called the Hopeivell , 
and chose Hudson to be its captain. 

Trying to find a northern passage. — The course of 
the Hopewell was set toward the north star. Day after 
day she sailed through wintry seas, until at last great fields 
of ice blocked her way and hemmed her in on every side. 
No other ship had ever gone so far north; but the North 
Pole was still hundreds and hundreds of miles beyond. 
When Hudson saw that there was no way to pass through 
or around the mighty barriers of ice, he sadly gave up the 
enterprise and sailed back to England. 

u There is yet one other route to be tried,” he said, 

barnes’s el.—6 


82 


HENRY HUDSON 


u and that is to the northeast through the great sea that 
lies north of Europe and Asia.” 

Trying to find a northeast passage. — The next year, 
therefore, the merchants sent Hudson out to try this route. 
He sailed around the capes of Norway and to the frozen 



“Again vast fields of ice stretched everywhere before him” 


island of Spitzbergen, which no other Englishman had seen. 
But again vast fields of ice stretched everywhere before 
him, threatening to crush his little vessel, and he was 
forced to return. He was not ready, however, to believe 
that his scheme was impossible. “ By sailing in a slightly 
different direction,” he said, “ I think I may yet succeed.” 







THE VOYAGE OF THE HALF MOON 


83 


II. THE VOYAGE OF THE HALF MOON 

In the service of the Dutch East India Company. — Just 

at that time some men in Holland were forming a trading 
association, known as the Dutch East India Company — a 
strong and rich company which exists to this very day. 
They were anxious and determined to carry on trade with 
India and China; and they, too, wished to discover some 
undisputed passageway by water to those countries. They 
had heard of Hudson’s daring voyages to the north, and 
they had great confidence in him as a sea captain. So 
they sent for him and employed him to make one more 
effort to find a northeast route to the Pacific. They sup¬ 
plied him with a little ship called the Half Moon, and in 
this he set sail with a crew of sixteen men. 

But this time the northern seas seemed even fuller of 
ice than before. The sailors were discontented and unruly; 
they refused to obey their captain and demanded that he 
should turn back. 

A change of plan. —Hudson was unwilling to return to 
Holland and report that he had failed. He believed that 
in North America there was some unknown strait or sea 
stretching across the continent, and leading directly into 
the Pacific; and he felt that he would be serving his em¬ 
ployers well if he could discover such a passageway. He 
therefore caused the Half Moons course to be changed, and 
sailed westward across the Atlantic. 

The voyage was a pleasant one, and by and by the low 
coast of Maryland was sighted. Hudson then sailed north : 


84 


HENRY HUDSON 


ward, looking into every bay and inlet to see whether it 
did not open into some passage across the continent. At 
length, one fine day in September, he entered the land¬ 
locked harbor now known as New York Bay, and found 
the noble river which has since been called by his name. 



“Food was served him in a red wooden bowl” 


Up the Hudson River. — As the Half Moon floated 
slowly past the place where the city of New York now 
stands, a few Indians stood among the trees on shore 
and watched the motions of her crew. As she passed 
on up the river, other savages came out in canoes to 
meet her. They were very friendly, and Hudson and 











THE VOYAGE OF THE HALF MOON 


85 


his men traded them knives and trinkets for corn and 
pumpkins and tobacco. At one place Hudson went on 
shore and visited a chief in his own bark house. A 
mat was spread upon the ground for him to sit upon, and 
food was served him in a red wooden bowl. Most of the 
Indians seemed very kind, and Hudson and his crew were 
delighted with everything they saw. 

End of the voyage. — The Half Moon sailed almost as 
far as to the place where Albany now stands. And then, 
as the river grew shallow and the water was all fresh, 
Hudson was convinced that there was no passage that way 
to the Pacific. So he turned about and sailed for home. 
He had failed to do that which the Dutch East India Com¬ 
pany had sent him out to do; but he could carry back good 
news of the discovery of a great river and a beautiful land 
in America. 

In Hudson Bay. — A few years after this, Hudson made 
another voyage to America. He had command of an Eng¬ 
lish ship, and his object was still to find a new route to 
the Pacific. He sailed far to the north along the bleak 
coasts of Labrador, and then entered the great bay that 
is now called by his name. There his ship was frozen fast 
in the ice and compelled to remain all winter. 

Very great were his sufferings and those of his crew. 
Their food failed. Hudson divided his last morsel with 
his men. But when spring opened and the ship was once 
more free the ungrateful wretches rebelled against him. 
They put him and five or six others into an open boat, 
and sent them adrift to perish in the ice-cold waters. 


86 


HENRY HUDSON 


III. NEW NETHERLAND 

A Dutch colony. — At that time the greatest traders 
in the world were the merchants of Holland. They were 
much pleased with the accounts which the crew of the 
Half Moon carried home concerning the river of Hudson. 
They called all'the country New Netherlands and claimed 
that since it had been discovered by one of their vessels, 



“The Indians were quite willing to sell the island” 

it therefore belonged to Holland. Soon they sent over 
other ships to trade with the Indians; and, five years 
later, a little trading house was built at the lower end 
of Manhattan Island. The Indians were quite willing 
to sell the island; and when the traders offered them 
trinkets to the value of twenty-four dollars they gladly 
gave up all their claims to the land where now is the great 
city of New York. 

Trading posts and settlements were established at 
various places along the river and on Long Island. The 






NEW NETHERLAND 


87 


whole region between the Connecticut River and the Dela¬ 
ware was included in the Dutch colony of New Netherland. 
It embraced not only what is now the state of New 
York, but also all of New Jersey and a part of Con¬ 
necticut. 

New Amsterdam. —Around the trading post on Man¬ 
hattan Island a little village sprang up. A windmill was 
built for grinding corn; and there was a brickyard, besides 
a blacksmith’s shop and a brewery. There was also a little 
Dutch church; and tower¬ 
ing above all was the trad¬ 
ing house and fort. 

The people called the 
village New Amsterdam in 
honor of the chief city of 
Holland. They built them¬ 
selves quaint houses, partly 
of wood and partly of black 
and yellow bricks. The 
houses had odd-looking 
gable roofs, and before the 
doors were little square 
“ stoops,” or platforms, 
just as in Holland. Inside, 
were fireplaces where huge logs of wood were burned in 
the winter time, — for in those days there were no stoves, 
and people had not learned to use coal. There were no 
carpets, but the floors were scoured white and covered 
every day with fresh, clean sand. Around each house 









88 


HENRY HUDSON 



there was a garden of vegetables and flowers, and near it 
was an orchard where apples and cherries grew. North 
of the village, where now are tall office buildings and 
wholesale stores, there were cornfields and a broad pasture 
where the cows of the villagers grazed. 


“The people sauntered out to the little park called Bowling Green” 

How the people lived. — The Dutch burghers, as the 
villagers were called, led a contented, easy life. They never 
seemed to be in a hurry, and were seldom much worried, 
except when the Indians threatened to do them harm. 
After their day’s work was done the people of New 
Amsterdam sauntered out to the little park called Bowl¬ 
ing Green — the men to smoke, the women to talk, and 
the boys and girls to play. 







NEW NETHERLAND 


89 


At Christmas all had a jolly time. There were Christ¬ 
mas trees for the children, and the tables were loaded with 
sweet-cakes and plum puddings and jellies, such as only 
the Dutch mothers knew how to make. And then at 
New Year’s all the houses were open, and everybody called 
on everybody else, and the year was begun with good 
wishes and kind greetings. 

The Dutch governors. — In only one thing did the 
people of New Netherland seem to be very unfortunate, 
and that was in the governors who were sent over from 
Holland to rule them. One after another, there were four 
of these governors, and each seemed to be in some respects 
worse than the one that went before him. 

Claimed by the English. — At last, about fifty years 
after the first settlement of New Netherland, some English 
ships sailed into the harbor at the mouth of the Hudson 
River. They had been sent by Charles II., the king of 
England, to demand by what right the Dutch had taken 
possession of that region. For did not the whole country 
belong to England by right of the discoveries which John 
Cabot had made nearly two hundred years before ? The 
Dutch could only reply by saying that they held it by 
reason of Henry Hudsons discovery; and, to the English, 
that was no reason at all. 

End of Dutch rule. — The commander of the ships sent 
a letter to Peter Stuyvesant, who was the governor at that 
time, telling him to surrender New Amsterdam and all the 
neighboring country to the English, who were the true 
owners. The governor stormed and scolded, and declared 


90 


HENRY HUDSON 


that he would never surrender. But the people had had 
enough of Dutch governors, and they believed that they 
would fare better and be happier under English rule. 
And so Stuyvesant was obliged to yield; his soldiers 
marched out of the fort, and the English soldiers marched 



“The governor stormed and scolded” 


in; and he, himself, gave up his place to an English 

governor. 

New York. — All the country about the Hudson River 
— in fact the whole region hitherto claimed by the Dutch, 
became an English province, and was given by the king 
to Lis brother, the Duke of l^ork. The town on Manhat- 












NEW NETHERLAND 


91 


tan Island was no longer called New Amsterdam, but 
New York; and the same name was given to the country 
in the valley of the Hudson and its tributaries. 



New York in Dutch times 


REVIEW 

Why were England and other nations so anxious to discover 
some new route to the Pacific Ocean ? In what directions and to 
what places were ships sent in order to search for some such route ? 
Why was Henry Hudson well qualified to lead expeditions for this 
purpose ? By what great trading company was he employed ? 
Where is the river that is called by his name ? Where is Manhat¬ 
tan Island ? Eor what purpose was the first settlement made on 
Manhattan Island? What name was given to the settlement? 
What name was given to the country on both sides of the Hudson ? 
Why did the English take possession of the country ? What name 
did they give to the region about the Hudson River ? 




WILLIAM BREWSTER 
ART) THE PILGRIMS OF NEW ENGLAND 
I. THE SEPARATISTS 

William Brewster. — In the eastern part of England* 
on the old road from London to Scotland* there is a little 
village called Scrooby. Here, three hundred years ago, 
there lived a man whose name was William Brewster. 
He was the master of the post — or* as we should say* 
the postmaster. He did not have much mail to handle* 
for there were no newspapers at that time, and people 
did not write many letters. His chief duty was to 
provide travelers with horses and guides to conduct 
them to the next post; and he kept an inn where 
strangers were lodged and entertained. The govern¬ 
ment paid him a salary of about two shillings a day, 
and his inn was in the great manor house of the arch¬ 
bishop of York. 

William Brewster was a man of importance in his neigh¬ 
borhood. He had studied at Cambridge University and 
had afterwards spent two years in Holland with one of 
the queen’s officers. He was strong and brave and not 
afraid to speak his opinion. Many of the people in and 
about Scrooby looked up to him as their leader. 

92 


THE SEPARATISTS 


93 



The Separatists. — Now, at that time the king of 
England wished to make everybody in his kingdom belong 
to the English Church, of which he was the head. But 
William Brewster said there were some things taught in 
that church of which he did not 
approve, and he wished to wor¬ 
ship God in the way which 
his conscience told him 
was right. Several 
of his neighbors were 
of the same opinion; 
and so they met 
every Sunday in the 
large hall of the 
manor house, and 
formed a little church 
of their own. Their 
pastor was a goodly 
man whose name was 
John Bobinson, and 
they chose William 
Brewster to be their 
ruling elder. They 
were called Separa¬ 
tists, because they had separated from the English Church. 

Persecution. — When it became known that the 
Separatists were holding meetings in the archbishop s 
manor house, the king’s officers took steps at once to 
punish them. Brewster was put out of his office as post- 


‘ He kept an inn where strangers were lodged 
and entertained ” 


94 


WILLIAM BREWSTER 


master. His inn was taken from him, and he was sen¬ 
tenced to pay a heavy fine. Others of the Separatists were 
driven from their homes ; some were beaten, and some 
were put in prison. Brewster would not pay his fine ; and 
when the officers came to arrest him he could not be 
found. But from his hiding place he was doing all that 
he could to help his friends. Many of them were house¬ 
less and homeless, and there seemed to be no place in 
England where they could be safe from their enemies. 

Only one place of safety. — In all the world, at that 
time, there was but one country in which men were free 
to worship God as they chose. That country was Holland. 
William Brewster remembered what he had seen there dur¬ 
ing his visit several years before. “ It is the only place,” 
he said, u in which we can escape from persecution.” 

The Separatists were anxious to go there; but every 
seaport in England was shut against them. What should 
they do ? They could not go, they could not stay. 

Escape into Holland. — At length a Dutch sea captain 
offered to take them on board of his vessel at a lonely 
place far from any town. As many of the men as could 
get into a small rowboat were taken out to the ship, 
while the women and children and some others w T aited on 
shore. But hardly had the men reached the vessel, when 
a great mob of country people came rushing to the beach, 
and with clubs and stones attacked the helpless waiting 
ones. The Dutch captain hoisted sails and made all 
speed to Holland. Those who were left behind were 
beaten and driven from town to town and denied even the 


IN HOLLAND 


95 


shelter of a jail. The story of their sufferings soon be¬ 
came known in other parts of England. It touched the 
hearts of many, and even their enemies began to feel more 
kindly toward them. And so, at length, they were per¬ 
mitted to sail for Holland. They went, a few at a time 
and in different vessels. At Amsterdam they were soon 
rejoined by their elder, William Brewster. 

Settle at Leyden. — A few months later most of the 
company found homes at Leyden, not far from Amster¬ 
dam. They supported themselves by working in the mills 
and factories, and as soon as they were able, they built 
themselves a little church. 

II. IN HOLLAND 

The Pilgrims. — William Brewster had lost almost 
everything that he possessed. For a time he was obliged 
to • earn his living by teaching English in Amsterdam. 
Then he set up a printing press and printed religious 
books. And all this while he was active in the church at 
Leyden, and old and young looked up to him for guidance. 

As year after year went by, the band of exiles 
became very much dissatisfied. They could not think of 
Holland as their home. They could not bear the thought 
that their children should grow up to be Dutchmen of Hol¬ 
land instead of Englishmen. “We are but pilgrims in a 
strange land,” they said. And from that time instead 
of being known as Separatists they were called Pilgrims. 

Why not go to America ? — At length, some one said : 
“ Why not go to America ? There we may be a people 


96 


WILLIAM BREWSTER 


to ourselves, free to do as we wish and sure that our 
children will not forget the language of their fathers.” 

The idea was a pleasing one, and they talked it over 
often. Bat to what part of America should they go ? 

They could not go to Virginia, for the colony at James¬ 
town— now twelve years old — had set up the English 
Church there. They did not want to settle with the 
Dutch on Manhattan Island — they might as well remain 
in Holland. But all the rest of the country from 
Florida to Canada was unsettled, and they might choose 
the place that seemed best. At last it was agreed that 
the region around Delaware Bay was the most desirable. 

The king’s permission. — The next thing necessary was 
to get the king’s permission. Two of the Pilgrims went 
over to London and laid the matter before him. 

“ It -is a good and honest notion,” said King James; 
“ but by what business will you make profit out of it ? ”• 

“ By fishing,” answered John Carver. 

“ That is an honest trade,” said James. 

But he would give them no formal permission to make 
the settlement. Pie kept putting them off for a whole 
year. Then he gave them to understand that the Pil¬ 
grims might go to America if they chose, and that if 
they behaved themselves no one should molest them. 

The Pilgrims were glad enough even of this. They 
began at once to get ready for their voyage. 

The departure. — It was decided that the pastor, John 
Robinson, with those who were the least able to endure 
the hardships of the voyage, should remain in Holland 


PLYMOUTH 


97 


till the colony was well established. The rest, under 
the care of Elder Brewster, John Carver, and William 
Bradford, embarked on a rickety old ship called the 
Speedwell , and on a day in July bade good-by to Hol¬ 
land. They sailed to Southampton in England. There 
another vessel, called the Mayflower , was waiting for 
them. 

At the last moment it was found that the Speedivell 
was too old and leaky to make the voyage. As many 
as possible were therefore crowded into the Mayflower , 
and the rest were left behind. There were many delays, 
•and it was not until September that they finally set sail 
for America. 


m. PLYMOUTH 

Voyage of the ** Mayflower. ’ ’ — The Pilgrims were on 
the ocean for sixty-five days. A storm drove them far 
out of their course. When at last they sighted land it 
was the long, low coast of Cape Cod, hundreds of miles 
from the bay of Delaware which they had hoped to reach. 

They sailed around the northern point of the cape, 
and cast anchor in the harbor near where the village of 
Provincetown now stands. How glad those storm-tossed 
men and women must have been as they stood once more 
on solid ground! The first thing they did was to fall 
on their knees and thank God for bringing them safe 
“ over the vast and furious ocean.” 

Exploring the coast. — A soldier whose name was Miles 
Standish had come with the Pilgrims from Holland. He 

harness's el.— 7 


98 


WILLIAM BREWSTER 


now armed himself, and, taking a few men with him, set 
out to explore the coast, and find a suitable spot for a 
settlement. Standish and his men saw a few Indians at 
a distance, and found some corn that had been hidden 
away in a kettle. They carried the corn back to the 
ship, and when planting time came used it for seed. 


^ It was the 21st of December ** 



The landing at Plymouth. — A whole month was spent 
in looking for a place in which to make their future 
homes. At last they found a pleasant spot on the west 
shore of the bay, where there was a fine spring of fresh 
water. Captain John Smith had visited the same spot six 
or seven years before, and had named it Plymouth, after 
the famous old city of that name in England. The Pil¬ 
grims were very glad to find a resting place after their 
long voyage. 








THE INDIANS 


99 


It was the 21st of December when the first landing 
was made by the strongest and most venturesome of the 
men. The weather was cold. The winter had be¬ 
gun early. Very bleak and barren did the whole 
country appear. 

The houses. — The first house was a large one and 
was used as a common shelter and storehouse. Then other 
buildings — little cabins of logs and boards — were hastily 
put up. It was not until March that the women and 
children could go ashore. 

The first winter. — Very sad was that first winter in 
Plymouth. All suffered from exposure to the bitter 
weather. Their food was poor and scanty. They lacked 
the comforts of life. Is it any wonder that many grew 
sick and died ? Of the one hundred who came over in the 
Mayflower only fifty-one lived to see the warm, budding 
days of spring. . But the great-hearted Elder Brewster 
comforted them as best he could ; he did not permit them 
to despair. “ It is not with us,” he said, “ as with men 
whom small things can discourage.” 

At one time all were sick except Brewster, Standish, 
and five others. John Carver, whom they had chosen as 
their first governor, died; and William Bradford, a young 
man of great energy, was elected to take his place.' 

IV. THE INDIANS 

Samoset. — One day early in spring, a naked Indian 
came out of the woods on the crest of the hill, and walked 
boldly down toward the little row of cabins. 


100 


WILLIAM BREWSTER 


“ Welcome, Englishmen! Welcome! ” he cried, as the 

men went out to meet him. 

He could not speak much English, but he told them 
his name was Samoset. He had learned a few words 
from some fishermen whom he had met far up the coast. 
The Pilgrims invited him into their houses and treated 

that he went away 
much pleased. 

Squanto.— 
Soon afterward 
Samoset came 
back, bringing 
another Indian 
with him. The 
name of the sec¬ 
ond Indian was 
Squanto. He had 
been stolen fifteen 
years before, by 
the captain of an 
English vessel, and 

“One day they came with quite a large company” . !r 

had been taken to 

Europe. He had seen a good deal of the world and 
could talk well. He told the Pilgrims that many Indians 
had once lived in that neighborhood, and had had large 
fields of corn. But a dreadful pestilence had broken out 
among them, and nearly all had died. 

Massasoit. — Squanto and Samoset brought other 
Indians to visit the Pilgrims. One day they came with 






THE INDIANS 


101 


quite a large company; and in front of them walked the 
head chief of the Wampanoags, a tribe to which all the 
red men of that region belonged. The name of the chief 
was Massasoit. He was dressed just as the other war¬ 
riors, except that he wore a string of white bone beads 
around his neck. His face was painted a dull red color, 
and his hair was so well oiled that Governor Bradford 
said he “ looked greasily.” But he was very dignified, 
and all his followers looked up to him with much respect. 

The council.—There were then seven houses in the 
village, and Massasoit was permitted to look into every 
one. Then in the largest house a solemn council was 
held. The chief was seated on a mat, with cushions 
around him. The governor and Elder Brewster and other 
leading Pilgrims sat in order before him. At the door 
a trumpet was blown and a drum was beaten, to let every 
one know that the council was begun.- Miles Standish, 
with sword and gun, stood on guard before the house. 
The Indians were very much impressed by all this display. 

Speeches were made in the council. Promises of friend¬ 
ship were given on both sides. A treaty of peace was made 
which was kept by red men and white for more than fifty 
years. And then Massasoit with his warriors returned to 
his home not far from the shores of Narragansett Bay. 

The Narragansetts. — Beyond Massasoit’s country there 
was a strong tribe of Indians called Narragansetts. When 
they heard of the coming of the Pilgrims they were not at 
all pleased. So they sent to Plymouth a bundle of arrows 
wrapped in the skin of a rattlesnake. This was their way 


102 


WILLIAM BREWSTER 


of telling the Pilgrims that they did not like them and 
were going to fight them. But Governor Bradford was 
not to be frightened. He filled the snake’s skin with 
powder and shot, and sent it back to the chief of the 
Narragansetts. It was his way of saying, “ You may 
fight us with arrows, but we will fight you with guns.” 

The Narragansetts understood him, and did not make 
any trouble for a long time. 

V. GROWTH OF THE COLONY 

The first summer. — All through the first summer the 
colony prospered. Their gardens provided them with 
vegetables in plenty. On the hillsides were wild berries, 
and in the thickets were grapes and red plums. The 
fields produced corn. In the woods wild turkeys and 
deer might be had for the taking. The streams and the 
shallow waters of the bay were full of fish. There was 
no longer any scarcity of food. 

The first thanksgiving. — After the harvest had been 
gathered, the Pilgrims decided to have a great feast as a 
sort of thanksgiving. Hunters were sent into the woods 
and brought back a great quantity of game. Massasoit 
and ninety of his warriors came to the feast, bringing five 
fine deer with them. For three days white men and 
red feasted and rejoiced together. It was a memorable 
thanksgiving, the first ever held in our country. 

Prosperity. — Soon other Pilgrims came over, and the 
colony grew in numbers and in strength. There were 
still many sore trials to be endured, but none like those 


GROWTH OF THE COLONY 


103 


of the first dreadful winter. For several years William 
Brewster was the man of most influence at Plymouth. He 
was the great-hearted minister and teacher to whom all 
looked for guidance and comfort. Had it not been for his 
wonderful courage and his strong common sense, it is not 
unlikely that the colony would have perished at the out¬ 
set. He lived to see it strong and prosperous, and died 
at the ripe age of eighty-four. 

Relics at Plymouth. — If you should ever visit Plym¬ 
outh you will be shown there the sword and other curious 
articles that belonged 
to Elder Brewster and 

were brought by him I 

from Holland. You 
may see also the sword 
of Miles Standish, and 
the cradle in which the 

first Pilgrim baby was put to sleep. And the rock will be 
pointed out to you on which the Pilgrims are supposed to 
have stepped when they came ashore from the Mayflower . 



Relics at Plymouth 


REVIEW 

Who were the Separatists? Why did they wish to go to Hol¬ 
land ? What other name was given them in Holland ? Who were 
the leading men among them ? Why did they become dissatisfied 
in Holland? To what part of America did they wish to come? 
Why did they not reach the place which they had intended to 
reach? Where did they decide to make their new home? Who 
was the first governor of the colony ? What position did Wil¬ 
liam Brewster hold among the Pilgrims ? Why were the Indians 
friendly to them? 


JOHN ENDICOTT 

AND PURITAN LIFE IN NEW ENGLAND 
L NAUMKEAG 

The New England coast. — When the Pilgrims first 
landed at Plymouth, all the country known as New 
England was an unexplored land. The seacoast from 
Cape Cod to Maine was without a white inhabitant. But 
English traders were beginning to learn something about 
the products of both the land and the sea. Already 
ships were engaged in carrying furs, fish, and timber 
from the new country to various ports in England. 
Two men, Ferdinand Gorges and John Mason, soon 
afterwards formed a plan for establishing a colony far 
to the north of Plymouth. Both these men were inter¬ 
ested in the trade with the New England coast, and they 
believed that this trade could be much increased through 
such a colony. 

First settlement of New Hampshire. — They obtained 

a grant of all the land between the Merrimac River and 
the Kennebec, and sent out a shipload of fishermen and 
farmers to form a settlement. Some of the colonists went 
on shore at the mouth of the Piscataqua River, and 
founded Portsmouth. Others sailed a little farther up the 
104 


NAUMKEAG 


105 


river and settled at a place which they called Dover. 
Thus the colony afterwards known as New Hampshire 
had its beginning. This was less than two years after 
the landing of the Pilgrims at Plymouth. 

The Puritans.—The eyes of many people were now 
turned toward New England. Fishermen and others 
built their temporary huts at more than one point along 
the shore. Then a company of Puritans obtained a grant- 
of land south of the Merrimac and prepared to establish 
a strong colony there. There were many Puritans in 
England. They were much like the Pilgrims in their 
ways and beliefs ; and in order that they might have their 
own church and worship God as they chose, great num¬ 
bers of them were anxious to find new homes in America. 

Their first settlement. — The first that came settled 
at a place on Massachusetts Bay called by the Indians 
Naumkeag. There were already a few white people there, 
mostly fishermen. These were not well pleased when they 
saw the Puritans’ ship come into their little narbor. 

“ Who are you, and what do you want here ? ” they 
cried from the shore. 

u We are a peace-loving people, and we have come to 
this land in order that we and our children may have 
that freedom which is denied us in England,” answered 
John Endicott, the leader of the Puritans. 

The men on shore were not yet satisfied, but declared 
that the Puritans should not land there. John Endicott 
reasoned kindly with them. “We have authority to 
come here,” he said. “ The king has granted to our com- 


106 


JOHN ENDICOTT 


pany all the land northward to the Merrimac River and 
southward to the stream called the Charles and westward 
even to the great sea. We have come in peace, and we 
would live here in peace with all men.' 4 ’ 

Salem. —After some further talk the fishermen ceased 
their objections, and the Puritans were permitted to go 
ashore. There were only a few persons in this first ship¬ 
load and they were soon comfortably settled in their new 
homes. John Endicott was so much pleased with the 
happy ending of the trouble with the fishermen that he 
changed the name of the place to Salem, which is a 
Hebrew word meaning Peace. 

During the first winter there were not more than sixty 
people in Salem. But the next year others came, and 
some began to look for new places in which to make 
settlements. 

Other colonists. —Two years after the first landing, 
many shiploads of colonists arrived, and with them came 
their governor John Winthrop. A few of these stayed at 
Salem, but the greater number went elsewhere. Some 
settled at Charlestown, where there was a fine spring; 
others went farther inland and built the first homes at 
Medford, Watertown, Cambridge, and elsewhere. 

Boston. — One day a boatload of young people, out* for 
a pleasure trip, crossed the river from Charlestown to the 
peninsula of Shawmut where the city of Boston now stands. 
The first person to step ashore was a young woman named 
Anne Pollard. The place was so inviting, with its three 
hills and a fountain of pure water gushing out near the 


LIFE AMONG THE PURITANS 


107 



foot of one of them, that a fine account of it was car¬ 
ried to Salem. Before the end of summer a settlement 
was begun on the peninsula. Soon Governor Winthrop 
himself decided to make it his home. Many of the set¬ 
tlers had come from the old city of Boston in the eastern 
part of England, and the new village was therefore called 
by the same name. 

II. LIFE AMONG THE PURITANS 

Massachusetts Bay Colony.—All the settlements made 
by the Puritans on the grant of land received from the 
king were united under one government known as the 
colony of Massachusetts Bay. The settlements increased 
very fast; for there were thousands of Puritans in Eng- 









108 


JOHN ENDICOTT 


land who were glad to escape from the tyranny of the 
king by coining to New England. 

Connecticut. — Soon some who had settled in the 
Massachusetts Bay Colony began to grow restless, and 

decided to remove 
farther west. They 
had heard of the 
beautiful river Con¬ 
necticut, and of the 
surprising richness 
of the land through 
which it flows, and 
they resolved to go 
thither. With their 
minister as their 
leader, and carrying 
their household goods 
with them, they made 
their way through the 
woods to the banks 
of the distant river. 
There they formed several small settlements, and the new 
colony of Connecticut was founded. Other people came by 
water, and settled near the mouth of the river; and still 
others ventured as far west as New Haven, and established 
a colony there. The four colonies of Massachusetts Bay, 
Plymouth, Connecticut, and New Haven were composed of 
Puritans or of persons in sympathy with the Puritans; and 
for better protection against the Indians they soon formed 














LIFE AMONG THE PURITANS 


109 


a kind of friendly union, and called themselves the United 
Colonies of New England. In the course of time the 
Plymouth colony became a part of Massachusetts, and the 
New Haven colony was joined with that of Connecticut. 

The homes of the Puritans. — Some of the colonists, as 
Endicott and Winthrop, had been well-to-do in their old 
homes. Some were fine scholars and had been educated in 
the great English universities. In their new homes, how¬ 
ever, all lived very plainly and there were no luxuries of 
any kind. Sometimes food was scarce, and then rich and 
poor shared together and no one had more than another. 

The first houses were, for the most part, log buildings in 
which there were not many comforts. The furniture was 
very plain and there was but little of it. Everything was 
tidy and prim. All the cooking was done by a great fire- 



•‘The cooking was done by a great fireplace” 




110 


JOHN ENDICOTT 


place, for there were no such things as stoves in those 
days. In every house there were spinning wheels, and a 
reel for winding yarn, and a loom for weaving cloth ; for 
all the clothing of the family was home-made. 

How the Puritans lived. — The 
Puritans thought life too serious to 
be wasted in idleness, and so 
everybody was busy, and there 
was work enough for all. The 
parents were solemn and 
strict, and the children 
were demure and quiet. 
There were few games 
or amusements of any 
sort, and there was 
seldom a holiday. 
Christmas came and 
passed without notice. 

The Puritan children 
had no Christmas tree, no Santa Claus, no Christmas 
presents. But they were quite happy without them. 

The Puritans at church. — On Sunday all went to 
church. It was held in a plain log meeting-house which 
was not warmed even in the coldest weather. The ser¬ 
mons and prayers were very long, and the only music was 
the singing of psalms. But everybody was obliged to 
keep awake and listen, and there was always an officer 
present to keep the.boys and girls in order. Sometimes 
when the Indians were troublesome, the men carried 





“In every house there were spinning wneels ’ 


GOVERNOR ENDICOTT 


111 


Puritans going to church 

their guns to church, and a sentinel was stationed outside 
to give the alarm in case of danger. 

III. GOVERNOR ENDICOTT 

A stern magistrate. — John Endicott, the leader in 
the settlement at Salem, was for many years one of the 
foremost men in the colony. He was chosen governor 
fourteen times and deputy governor four times; and he 
was for several years the commander of the militia of 
the colony. Among all the Puritans he was one of the 
sternest and strictest. He disliked for any one to have 
opinions different' from his own. Once he cut the cross of 
St. George out of the English flag, because it reminded 











112 


JOHN ENDICOTT 


him of the emblem of the Catholic church. At another 
time, when he was sitting as a magistrate, he struck a 
man who had angered him, and for thus forgetting him¬ 
self he was fined forty shillings. 

Roger Williams. — Soon after the settlement of Salem 
there came to the colony a zealous young minister whose 
name was Roger Williams. He was not afraid to speak 
his mind on any subject, and John Endicott became much 
attached to him. But many of the elders did not like 
him. He told them so many disagreeable truths that 
they at last decided to get rid of him. Endicott defended 
him with all his stern energy, and helped him to maintain 
his case for a while. It was not long, however, until his 
enemies prevailed. Endicott was imprisoned for befriend¬ 
ing him, and Williams was commanded to return to 
England. 

Rhode Island.—But he was determined to stay in 
America. Through midwinter snows he made his way 
to Narragansett Bay, where the great chief, Massasoit, 
received him kindly. In the spring the chiefs of the Narra- 
gansetts gave him land on which to build a home. Some 
of his friends from Salem joined him, and they began a 
new settlement which Williams called Providence. Soon 
afterwards another colony — the colony of Rhode Island — 
was founded, on the east shore of the bay. Many people 
who were dissatisfied with the ways of the Puritans came 
and made their homes where all were free to believe as 
they chose. In time the two colonies were united under 
the name of Rhode Island. 


GOVERNOR ENDICOTT 


113 


The Pequots.—Eight years after the first landing at 
Salem, Endicott led a company of a hundred fighting men 
against the Pequot Indians in southern Connecticut. 
These Indians had never done the Puritans any harm; 
but a band from Block Island had killed the captain of a 
coasting vessel, and the magistrates at Boston had re¬ 
solved to punish the whole tribe. They told Endicott to 
kill as many of the men as he could, but to spare the 
women and children. 

Endicott and his men sailed around the coast in five 
large boats. They landed first on Block Island, where 
they destroyed two villages and all the growing crops; 
but the Indians had hidden themselves and could not be 
found. The avengers next sailed to the mainland, and 
at the spot where New London now stands they found 
another large village which they destroyed. And so they 
passed on along the coast, killing and burning and de¬ 
stroying in a most pitiless manner. In about a month 
they were safe back in Boston, telling of their exploits 
and receiving the thanks of the governor and magistrates. 

Can we wonder that after such cruel treatment as this 
the Pequots became the bitter enemies of the white 
people ? In a short time a war was begun which did not 
end until the Pequots were almost wholly destroyed. 

The Quakers. — It was while John Endicott was gov¬ 
ernor that some people called Quakers came from England 
to Boston. These people were peaceable and kind, and 
wished only to do good; but they did not believe as the 
Puritans believed, and they would preach to the people in 

barnes’s el.—8 


114 


JOHN ENDICOTT 


the streets. Governor Endicott and his magistrates 
resolved to drive them out of the country. Some they 
imprisoned, some they whipped and banished, and four 
they put to death. 

Endicott’s services to Massachusetts. — But with all 

his harshness and narrowness, Endicott meant to do right. 
His aim at all times was to build up arid strengthen the 
colony. The Puritans looked upon him as one of their 
ablest men and the fittest to lead them in subduing the 
wilderness. We can hardly doubt that much of the early 
prosperity of Massachusetts was due to him. He lived to 
be a very old man, and was governor of the colony at the 
time of his death. 


REVIEW 

Who were the Puritans ? Why did they wish to come to America ? 
Where did the first Puritan colonists land ? Why was the place 
afterwards called Salem ? What other settlements were soon made ? 
Who was the first person to step ashore at the place where now is 
the city of Boston ? Why was that place selected for a settlement ? 
Why was the city of Boston so called ? Describe the manner of 
life among the New England Puritans. Why did the Puritan 
elders dislike Roger Williams ? Of what colony was he the founder ? 
What reason can you give for John Endicott’s friendship toward 
him ? What place did John Endicott occupy in the colony of Massa¬ 
chusetts ? How often was he governor ? What was his character ? 
What was his treatment of the Indians? of the Quakers? What 
excuses can we make for his severity and narrowness? Name the 
colonies of New England. Which of these were settled and con¬ 
trolled by Puritans? What colony was west of Connecticut and 
Massachusetts? What colony was on the James River? 


LORD BALTIMORE 

AND THE SETTLEMENT OF MARYLAND 
I. SCHEMES OF COLONIZATION 

An unwelcome visitor at Jamestown.— One day, some¬ 
what more than twenty years after the first landing of the 
English in Virginia, a strange ship sailed up the James 
River and came to anchor just off the landing at James¬ 
town. It brought to the settlement an unwelcome visitor 
— a nobleman whose name was George Calvert, but who 
is known in history as Lord Baltimore. 

Who was Lord Baltimore? — Lord Baltimore was a 
rich and influential Englishman. He had been an officer 
at the court of King James I. He was also a friend 
of the new king, Charles I., and had received many 
favors from him. He was a man of good judgment and 
excellent character. He was known to be kind-hearted 
and brave — a foe to oppressors and a friend to the 
poor. Why, then, was he not welcome at Jamestown ? 
He was a Catholic, and it was whispered that he intended 
to bring some Catholic colonists to Virginia. 

Loyalty of the Virginia colonists.—The people of Vir¬ 
ginia were all loyal supporters of the English Church; 
and therefore they did not like to have dealings with 

115 


116 


LORD BALTIMORE 


Catholics or with Puritans. They were determined that 
neither the one nor the other should ever gain a foothold 
in their colony. But how were they to deal with a 
Catholic nobleman who was a favorite of the king and 
had, no doubt, come to Virginia by his permission? 
The governor and his council were not long in finding 
out the facts of the case; for Lord Baltimore tried to 
hide nothing. 

Lord Baltimore’s first colony. — The great ambition of 

Lord Baltimore’s life had been to establish, somewhere in 
America, a colony in which men of all conditions and 
beliefs might find homes. With this purpose in view 
he had bought a large part of Newfoundland, and had sent 
out a number of men and women to form a settlement 
there; he had caused houses to be built for his colonists, 
and a fine, large mansion to be put up for himself; and 
then he had gone thither with his family, hoping to make 
his future home there. 

But very sad was his disappointment. The climate 
was the worst that could be thought of — snow and fog, 
snow and fog, throughout a great part of the year. The 
soil was no better — rocks and bogs, rocks and bogs, every¬ 
where. No colony, except one of fishermen, could ever 
exist in such a country. Lord Baltimore felt that he 
must find some other place in which to form his settle¬ 
ment. He knew that Virginia was of wide extent, and 
that much the greater part of it was unsettled and 
even unknown. He had, therefore, come direct from 
Newfoundland to see for himself whether there might 


SCHEMES OF COLONIZATION 


117 



not be room, either north or south of the James, for 
an independent colony. 

This account of his intentions was not pleasing to the 
Jamestown colonists. Had not Lord Baltimore been a 
person of consequence, it is likely that they would have 
gotten rid of him with¬ 
out ceremony. But 
since he was the king’s 
friend, it was necessary 
to be cautious. 

Progress of the col¬ 
ony.— While the gov¬ 
ernor and his council 
were considering the 
matter, Lord Balti¬ 
more spent several 
days in looking about 
the country and finding out 
all that he could about its 
climate and resources. He 
learned that there were about five 
thousand people in the colony. The 
settlers for the most part lived on plan¬ 
tations that were scattered along the oath^ 6 

rivers at great distances apart. When¬ 
ever he went, he saw tobacco either growing in the 
fields or being made ready for market. In the year 

that was just ending, 500,000 pounds of the fragrant 

leaves had been shipped to London. The colonists 





118 


LORD BALTIMORE 


had ceased hoping to find gold, and all their talk was of 

tobacco. 

The oath of supremacy. — Lord Baltimore was soon 

asked to appear before the governor and council. The 
governor had been very friendly to him all along, but 
the councilors were determined to be rid of him. They 
said that he must take the oath of supremacy as was done 
by all other persons coming to the colony. Now this oath 
was an acknowledgment that the king of England was 
the supreme head of the Church, and no good Catholic 
could take it. 

“I cannot subscribe to that oath,” said Baltimore, “for 
I acknowledge the Pope as my master in things spiritual. 
But King Charles knows that I am his loyal subject, and 
I will swear to support him always as the true and lawful 
head of our nation.” 

“Well, then,” answered the councilors, “since you 
refuse to comply with our laws, we must ask you to 
depart from Virginia without further delay.” 

II. MARYLAND 

The new colony. — Three months later, Lord Baltimore 
was in London, telling the king about his voyage and ex¬ 
plaining all his plans for the future. 

King Charles listened graciously, and then told him 
that the northeastern portion of Virginia should be 
granted to him and his heirs for the colony which he 
proposed to found. The boundaries of the territory thus 
granted were clearly marked out. The king himself 


MARYLAND 


119 


chose a name for the new colony, saying that it should 
be called Terra Mariae, or (in English) Maryland, in honor 
of his queen, Henrietta Maria. 

Religious freedom in Maryland. — The charter which 
Lord Baltimore received made him the owner and ruler of 
all Maryland, and Maryland was declared to be a province 
of England. The only rental that was required was . two 
Indian arrows to be given to the king during Easter week 
each year. Lord Baltimore’s dearest wish was that, in 
this colony, the per¬ 
secuted of his own 
faith might find a safe 
refuge; for at that 
time the Catholics in 
England were treated 
even more cruelly 
than the Puritans. 

But he declared that 
others also should be 
protected and be free 
to worship as they 
chose. All people were welcome to come to Maryland; it 
was “ free soil for Christianity.” 

Cecil Calvert. — Before everything could be made 
ready for sending settlers to Maryland, Lord Baltimore 
died. But his great plans did not die with him. 
His son Cecil Calvert, known as the second Lord 
Baltimore, took hold of matters and pushed them for¬ 
ward with great earnestness. Within the next year, 





120 


LORD BALTIMORE 


two ships, with colonists, were ready to sail to the land 
of promise. 

Young Lord Baltimore was himself unable to go out at 
that time; but he sent his brother, Leonard Calvert, who 

was to find a suitable 
place for the settle¬ 
ment and have the 
general management 
of the colony’s affairs. 
The company included 
“ very near twenty gen¬ 
tlemen of very good 
fashion, and three hun¬ 
dred laboring men well 
provided in all things. ,, 
Nearly all were Catho¬ 
lics. 

St. Marys. — The 

place chosen for the 
first settlement was a 
pleasant spot on the 
bank of a broad inlet 
which opens into the 
Potomac, only a few miles from its mouth. From the 
Indians who lived there the colonists bought as much 
land as they wanted, paying for it with axes, hoes, and 
cloth. A guardhouse was built, and soon a little village 
sprang up around it. The name of St. Marys was given 
to the village, and the inlet was called St. Marys River. 



to hunt deer** 





PROGRESS OF THE COLONY 


121 


The Indians proved to be very friendly. Their women 
showed the white housekeepers how to prepare corn 
meal, and how to bake cakes in the ashes. The warriors 
taught the white men how to hunt deer, and where to find 
wild fruits in their season. Corn was planted in the 
clearings ; cattle and hogs were brought in from Virginia; 
there was no lack of food at St. Marys; and there was 
no suffering among the colonists as there had been during 
the first years at Jamestown and at Plymouth. 

III. PROGRESS OF THE COLONY 

New settlements. — In a short time other settlers began 
to arrive in the colony, and plantations were opened in sev¬ 
eral places. The new province of Maryland seemed to be 
on the highroad to prosperity. But serious troubles were 
near at hand. 

Clayborne’s rebellion. —The Virginia colonists were 
very angry when they learned that another colony had 
been planted on lands claimed by themselves. A Virginia 
trader whose name was Clayborne had built a trading sta° 
tion on an island in Chesapeake Bay, and he refused to obey 
the laws of Lord Baltimore. He even tried to persuade the 
Indians to destroy the settlement at St. Marys. He went to 
England and petitioned the king. He gave his aid to a rebel¬ 
lion against Leonard Calvert — a rebellion which came near 
ending in the overthrow of law and order in Maryland. 
But he was finally silenced and obliged to keep the peace. 

Trouble from the Puritans. — Some New England Puri¬ 
tans, who had been trying to preach their doctrines in 


122 


LORD BALTIMORE 


Virginia and had been roughly treated there, settled in 
Maryland at a place which they called Providence, but 
which is now known as Annapolis. They felt grieved 
that Catholics and Quakers should have freedom to worship 
God in their own way, and they tried hard to make trouble. 
But their efforts were in vain, and people of whatever 
religious belief were made welcome m the new colony 

In spite of all opposition the colony grew stronger year 
by year, and plantations were opened in all parts of the 
province. Thirty years after the first landing at St. Marys 
there were sixteen thousand white people m Maryland. 

Towns and cities. — St. Marys was the capital of the 
province for a long time; but it never became a place of 
great importance. Other towns better situated for com¬ 
merce sprang up at various places, and outstripped it in 
population and in trade. In 1694 the capital was removed 
to Annapolis where it still remains. It was not until 
nearly a hundred years after the death of Lord Baltimore 
that the noble city which bears his name was founded. 

REVIEW 

Why did Lord Baltimore wish to found a colony in America ? 
Why was he not welcome among the colonists at Jamestown? 
What is meant by the oath of supremacy ? By whom was the name, 
Maryland, given to Lord Baltimore’s colony? Why were the Vir¬ 
ginians jealous of the new colony? How did the Indians regard 
the early settlers in Maryland ? What was the first capital of the 
colony ? What was the second ? What city was named in honor 
of the founder of the colony ? 


KING PHILIP 

AND THE INDIANS OF NEW ENGLAND 
I. THE INDIANS OF NEW ENGLAND 

The sons of Massasoit. -— Among all the Indians in 
New England the colonists had no better friend than Mas¬ 
sasoit, the head chief of the Wampanoags. As we have 
already learned, it was he who made the first treaty with 
the Pilgrims at Plymouth; and this treaty was faithfully 
kept as long as he lived. 

He had two sons, Wamsutta and Metacomet, and he 
was anxious that they also should live in friendship with 
the white men. One day he took them with him to 
Plymouth and called upon the governor. 

u I want these boys of mine to be like Englishmen,” 
he said. “ I want you to give them English names.” 

The governor was pleased with the idea. To the elder 
he gave the name of Alexander, and to the younger that 
of Philip, in honor of two kings famous in the history 
of Greece. No doubt the boys were much impressed with 
what they saw at Plymouth; and as time went on they 
learned very much about the ways of white men. 

What the Indians thought of the English. — There were 
a great many Indians in New England. Some were very 

123 


124 


KING PHILIP 



ready to lay aside their savage habits and live and do much 
as their Puritan and Pilgrim neighbors. Others liked the 
wild freedom of the woods, and were not at all pleased 
when they saw villages and fields taking the place of their 

old hunting grounds. 
They hated the white 
people, and would 
gladly have driven 
them out of their 
country. 

John Eliot. — A 

good man whose name 
was John Eliot went 
among the Indians to 
preach. He translated 
the Bible into their lan¬ 
guage. He taught 
some of them to read. 
He persuaded many to 
live in villages and to 
work at farming or at 
some useful trade. 

Englishmen” Soon, two or three 

thousand had given 
up their old ways of living and were trying to adopt the 
ways of Englishmen. But Alexander and Philip and 
most of their tribe kept themselves in their forest homes, 
and preferred to hunt and fish and to live in the rude 
manner of their fathers. 










KING PHILIP’S WAR 


125 


Alexander. — Massasoit lived to a great age, and died 
after being the friend of the white men for nearly fifty 
years. Then Alexander became chief in his stead, and 
for a short time everything went well as before. But 
there were many white men in the colonies who hated the 
Indians and wished to drive them out of the country 
and seize their lands. They had already destroyed the 
Pequots, and were at war with the Narragansetts; and 
now they wished to stir up strife with the Wampanoags. 

One day some officers arrested Alexander, accusing 
him of plotting to help the Narragansetts. He was taken 
to Plymouth as a prisoner; his proud spirit was broken 
by such treatment, and he became ill. The charge against 
him was found to be false, and he was set free. He 
started home, borne in a litter upon the shoulders of his 
men ; but before he was out of sight of Plymouth, he died. 
The Indians believed that he had been poisoned, and their 
feeling toward the colonists became very bitter. 

II. KING PHILIP’S WAR 

King Philip. — Philip now became the head chief of the 
Wampanoags. He was one of the noblest of his race, 
honest and wise, and desirous of peace. The English had 
such respect for him that they called him King Philip. 
Nevertheless, they always suspected and feared him. Per¬ 
haps they knew that the wrongs which they had inflicted 
upon his brother were such as he could never forget. Time 
and time again, he was accused of plotting against the 
colonists, but no one could prove that he was doing so. 


126 


KING PHILIP 



His people were becoming very restless; it was all lie 
could do to restrain them. 

The first hostile act.—At length, on a certain Sun¬ 
day, some of his young men plundered the town of 
Swansea, while the people were at church. They killed 
some of the people and acted in a most barbarous man¬ 
ner. The colonists were aroused to punish the evil-doers. 


"A number were captured and sent to the West Indies” 

The war begins. — Philip knew now that there was no 
longer any hope for peace. Either the white men must be 
driven from the country, or his own people would be de¬ 
stroyed. He, therefore, sent messengers to all the tribes 
from Connecticut to Maine, asking them to help him. 
Most of the three thousand village Indians, who had been 










KING PHILIP’S WAR 


127 


trying to learn the ways of white men, returned to the 
forest and joined their kinsmen. And then a terrible war 
began. 

Two dreadful years. — In every town the men united 
to defend the settlements from savage fury. The Indians 
seemed to be everywhere, and no home was safe from at¬ 
tack. For two dreadful years the war continued. Twelve 
hundred houses were burned, and nearly six hundred 
white men were killed or made captives. There was hardly 
a family that did not suffer. As for the Indians, their 
losses were even greater. Whole tribes were wiped out 
or driven away from their lands. 

Death of Philip. — At last King Philip, through the 
treachery of one of his men, was killed. His followers 
were now left without a leader. They scattered here and 
there, vainly seeking places of safety. Some escaped into 
the great woods beyond the Connecticut River. Many 
were killed outright. Still others, and among them the 
wife and children of King Philip, were captured and sent 
to the West Indies to be sold as slaves. The power of the 
red men in the southern parts of New England was utterly 
broken. 

REVIEW 

Who was Massasoit, and what did he wish for his two sons ? 
For how many years did he live at peace with the white settlers of 
New England ? What service did John Eliot do for the Indians? 
Why did not all of them listen to his teaching ? How did many of 
the Puritans regard and treat the Indians? What was the treatment 
of Alexander? What was the cause of the war with King Philip ? 
How did it end? What was the character of Philip ? 


FATHER MARQUETTE 
AND THE FRENCH IN NORTH AMERICA 
I. THE THREE CLAIMANTS 

Spain, England, and France. — Three great nations of 
Europe once claimed the country which is now called the 
United States. Spain claimed it because of the discoveries 
of Columbus and Ponce de Leon; and all the region north 
of the Gulf of Mexico was known to the Spanish as 
Florida. England claimed it because John Cabot had 
been the first to see its eastern coast; and Virginia and 
New England were the names which the English applied 
to its principal divisions. France also claimed it; and to 
the French people the interior of North America was 
known as New France and Louisiana. 

The French claims. —The French, in the first place, 
claimed the whole of the valley of the St. Lawrence, 
because one of their countrymen, Jacques Cartier, had 
been the first to enter and explore that noble river. Then 
they claimed the southeastern part of our country, includ¬ 
ing South Carolina and Georgia and northern Florida, 
because French ships had been the first to explore the 
shores of that region. They called the country Carolina, 
after King Charles IX. of France, and tried to establish 
settlements at Port Royal and on the River St. John. 

128 


THE THREE CLAIMANTS 


129 


In Carolina and Florida. — The first settlement failed 
because the colonists were dissatisfied and had not the 
energy nor the will to make it successful. The second 
settlement was destroyed by some Spaniards who had just 
founded the colony of St. Augustine on the east coast of 
Florida. After this the French gave up their claims in 
the southeastern part of our country, but the Spanish 
strengthened their post at St. Augustine and held it for 
more than two hundred years. St. Augustine is to-day 
famous as the place of the first permanent settlement in 
the United States. 

On the St. Lawrence. —In the valley of the St. Lawrence 
River the French were more successful. They built a fort 
at Quebec at about the same time that the Dutch were 
first exploring the Hudson River. They afterwards estab¬ 
lished trading stations at Three Rivers and Montreal. 
They discovered, one by one, the Great Lakes, and their 
traders and trappers finally made their way as far west as 
the present states of Wisconsin and Minnesota. 

Rumors of a “ great water” beyond the lakes.—The 
merchants of Europe had not yet given up the hope of 
finding a water passage across the continent. The Eng¬ 
lish expected to find the Pacific coast just a little way 
beyond the mountain ridge of the Alleghanies. The 
French hoped to reach it through the Great Lakes. In 
this hope they were encouraged by the Indians of the 
lakes, from whom they heard many a vague rumor of a 
“ great water ” still farther west, and of strange lands and 
peoples in the region of the setting sun. 

barnes’s el.— 9 


130 


FATHER MARQUETTE 


II. THE YOUNG MISSIONARY 

Jacques Marquette.—One summer there came to Quebec 
from Laon in France a young priest whose name was 
Jacques Marquette. He was twenty-nine years old, a fine 
scholar, and noted for his sweet and gentle manners. He 

had come to America to 
be a missionary among 
the Indians. He spent 
nearly two years in learn¬ 
ing the languages of the 
tribes about the lakes and 
in otherwise fitting him¬ 
self for the work he had 
undertaken. Then he 
started to the distant 
West. 

Sault Sainte Marie. — 

At the foot of the rapids 
near the outlet of Lake 
Superior he built a little 
bark chapel, and founded 
the mission of Sault 
Sainte Marie. The Chippewas, who lived there because 
of the good fishing in the rapids, listened gladly to his 
teaching; but before he had made many converts he 
received orders from Quebec to give up the mission to 
another and go still farther west. 

A new mission. — On the shore of Chequamegon Bay, 



A bark chapel 


J 




THE YOUNG MISSIONARY 


131 


in western Wisconsin, there was already a mission which 
another priest had established a year or two before. It 
was near the villages of some scattered bands of Hurons 
and Ottawas who had formerly lived in Canada. Mar¬ 
quette was assigned to this mission. Very few white 
men had ever gone so far into the interior of the conti¬ 
nent. South, west, north, for a thousand miles the coun¬ 
try was utterly unknown. Alone in this lonely place the 
young priest gave all his time to the service of the miser¬ 
able savages around him. 

The Illinois. — One day there came to the mission a 
band of strange Indians who seemed to be gentler and 
more teachable than any Marquette had yet seen. They 
said that they were “ Illinois,” which in their language 
meant “men,” and that they dwelt by the edge of a tree¬ 
less plain not far from a mighty water. They invited 
Marquette to visit them in their homes, and he assured 
them that, if it were ever possible, he would go and preach 
to them. Other Indians who came to the mission from 
time to time spoke also of a great water somewhere 
towards the south or west, but they knew so little about 
it that their words were hardly worth noticing. 

The mission destroyed. — Soon a great calamity befell 
the little mission. A band of Sioux warriors attacked the 
villages and destroyed them. They burned the chapel of 
the mission. They drove the Hurons and Ottawas into 
the forest. Father Marquette himself escaped with diffi¬ 
culty and made his way back to Sault Sainte Marie. 

Mackinac. — The terror-stricken Hurons, fleeing east- 


132 


FATHER MARQUETTE 


ward, came after a time to the point of land that juts out 
into the Strait of Mackinac from the north. There they 
paused, and finding themselves safe from the Sioux, they 
decided to go no farther. There were great quantities of 
fish in the strait, and life on its shores would be easy. 



“They drove the Hurons and Ottawas into the forest” 


As soon as Father Marquette learned that some of his 
people were at Mackinac he made haste to join them. He 
built a chapel close by the north shore of the strait and 
founded a new mission which he called St. Ignace. 

III. DISCOVERY OF THE MISSISSIPPI 

Joliet. — In 1673, near the end of the year, there came 
a visitor to Father Marquette at his mission of St. 
Ignace. This visitor was Louis Joliet, a Canadian trader 








DISCOVERY OF THE MISSISSIPPI 


133 


and explorer, well known as a man of enterprise and good 
judgment. He had been sent out by the governor of 
Canada to discover if possible the “ great water ” of 
the West, about which so many rumors bad been heard. 

Joliet brought letters from the governor, asking Mar¬ 
quette to be bis guide and companion, and to give him 
such aid as be could in carrying out the enterprise be had 
undertaken. Marquette was glad to do all that was in 
bis power, and the two men spent the winter at the mission 
making plans and getting ready for the voyage. 

The start. — Early in the following spring Marquette 
and Joliet, with two canoes and five boatmen, started upon 
their perilous journey. They paddled along the northern 
shore of Lake Michigan, crossed Green Bay, and in due 



“An Indian village with a cross in its center” 

time reached the mouth of the Fox River, where there was 
another mission. After a brief rest among friends they 
went on. They toiled slowly up the river, passed through 
Lake Winnebago, and at a little distance beyond were 
gladdened at the sight of an Indian village with a cross 


134 


FATHER MARQUETTE 


in its center. There they were kindly received, and two 
guides were given them to show them the way. 

A portage of about a mile was soon afterward crossed, 
and they found themselves on the banks of the Wisconsin 
River. There the guides left them. Marquette and Joliet 
again embarked in their canoes, and pushed boldly forward 
into a region never before explored by white men. 

On the great river. — On the 17th of June they reached 
and entered the mighty stream which the Indians called 
“ Missipi.” They felt sure that this was the 66 great 
water” for which they were seeking. Did it flow 
in a westward course to the Pacific ? Did it find its way 
to the ocean which borders Virginia ? Or was it the same 
stream of which the early Spanish explorers had given a 
brief account, and did it empty its waters into the Gulf 
of Mexico ? These were the questions which Marquette 
and Joliet were most anxious to solve. 

For a week they floated down the river without seeing 
a human being. On the eighth day, however, they dis¬ 
covered a village of Indians, where they were entertained 
with much kindness. After a day with these savage 
friends they again took to their canoes. They floated past 
the place where the muddy Missouri mingles its waters 
with those of the Mississippi. They saw the broad mouth 
of the Ohio, lying between low marshy banks green with 
grass and reedy thickets. Farther down they saw savages 
armed with guns and knives which they had bought from 
the English in Virginia. 

The end of the voyage. —At length they landed at a 


DISCOVERY OF THE MISSISSIPPI 


135 


village of friendly Indians nearly opposite the mouth of 
the Arkansas River. The Indians told them that the salt 
sea was only five days distant. But they said that there 
were many dangers in the way; the savage tribes along 
the river would not let them pass, 
and the stream itself was full of lurk¬ 
ing monsters which would devour 
both themselves and their canoes. 

Marquette and Joliet were now 
sure that the river must find its out¬ 
let in the Gulf of Mexico. It was 
the river, the mouth of which had 
been discovered by the Spaniard, 

Alonzo de Pineda, more than a hun¬ 
dred and fifty years before. The 
Spaniard, De Soto, had stood on its 
banks and been buried beneath its 
waters. The country bordering upon 
it was still claimed by Spain, and 
should the explorers fall into the 
hands of Spaniards, their voyage 
would be in vain. They therefore 
decided to go no farther. 

The return. — The return voyage against the current 
was slow and toilsome. When they reached the mouth of 
the Illinois River they turned into that beautiful stream, 
hoping that they might find a shorter way to the lakes. 
They were delighted with the richness of the country — 
with its broad prairies and its tree-bordered streams. They 



Statue of Marquette in 
Washington 




136 


FATHER MARQUETTE 


rested a few days in a village of the Illinois Indians. There 
the gentle priest busied himself consoling the sick and 
preaching the story of the Cross. The grateful people 
would not permit him to go away until he promised to 
return and tell them more of the wonderful story. 

At the forks of the Illinois the explorers turned to the 
left. They ascended the Des Plaines River to a point 
just beyond the place where the present city of Joliet 
stands. Then they carried their canoes a little way over 
the marshy prairie and launched them in the narrow 
Chicago River. They paddled down that sluggish stream 
to the lake, and were the first of white men to behold the 
place where now are the busy streets and tall buildings 
of the chief city of the West. It was autumn when they 
arrived safe at the mission near the mouth of the Fox 
River. They were again among friends. 

Joliet hastened to Quebec to tell the governor about the 
discoveries that had been made. But Father Marquette, 
worn out by the hardships he had undergone, remained 
several months at the mission, writing an account of his 
journey, and trying to recover his strength. 

IV. THE VISIT TO THE ILLINOIS 

By the Chicago River. — Nearly a year passed, and then 
Father Marquette set out to redeem the promise he had 
made to the Indians on the Illinois. The canoe voyage 
along the west shore of Lake Michigan was slow, and 
winter had begun before he reached the Chicago River. 
He was then so feeble that he could not go farther. The 


THE FRENCH IN THE WEST 


187 


two French boatmen who were with him built on the 
bleak prairie a hut of sticks and reeds — the first dwelling 
on the site of the city of Chicago. There the gentle priest 
spent the long winter in prayer and meditation. 

Among the Illinois. — Early in the spring he started 
again for the Illinois. When at length he reached the 
Indian village he was received with every sign of joy. 
More than two thousand men, besides women and chil¬ 
dren, met on the prairie to hear him preach. But he 
knew that his life was drawing to an end, and felt that 
he must return to his own people before it was too late. 

The end of a noble life. — The Indians wept as they 
bade him adieu, and a band of warriors went with him a 
hundred miles on the way. When he reached Lake 
Michigan he was so weak that the two Frenchmen were 
obliged to carry him to his canoe. One day as they 
were near the mouth of a small stream, he asked to 
be carried ashore. On a little hillock near the bank the 
men built a shelter of bark and leafy branches over him. 
Then, while he was praying, they walked a little way 
into the woods. When they returned a few minutes later 
he was dead. 

V. THE FRENCH IN THE WEST 

La Salle. — The discovery of the Mississippi by Joliet 
and Marquette gave to France the excuse to claim all the 
middle portion of North America as her own. This claim 
was strengthened soon afterward by Robert Cavelier de la 
Salle, the most enterprising of French explorers in America. 


138 


FATHER MARQUETTE 


He formed a grand project for colonizing the country and 
carrying on trade with Indians. He built the first ship 
that ever sailed on the Great Lakes, explored the water¬ 
ways between Canada and the far West, and established 
a fort on the Illinois River. After many failures he led 



The “Griffon” — “The first ship that ever sailed on the Great Lakes” 


an expedition down the Mississippi to its very mouth, and 
in the name of King Louis XIV. he took possession of all 
the lands drained by the great river and its tributaries. 
This was in April, 1682. 

New France. — France thus laid claim to all that part 
of our country which lies between the Alleghanies and the 


THE FRENCH IN THE WEST 


139 


Rocky Mountains, and between the Gulf of Mexico and 
the Great Lakes. To the greater part of that region 
La Salle gave the name of Louisiana in honor of the king. 
The country about the St. Lawrence and the lakes was 
already known as Canada or New France. Louisiana and 
Canada, taken together, included more than half of the 
continent of North America. 

French settlements. — La Salle’s plans for the settle¬ 
ment of the Mississippi country ended sadly with his 
death. But they aroused much interest both in Canada 
and in France. Numbers of French people left the older 
settlements along the St. Lawrence and sought new homes 
in the distant West. French settlements were made at 
Kaskaskia in Illinois, at Vincennes on the Wabash, and 
later at Detroit. At several places on the Great Lakes 
there were trading posts, as at Mackinac and Sault Sainte 
Marie. French colonies also were established in the 
South at Biloxi and Mobile; and nearly forty years after 
La Salle’s voyage down the river the foundations of New 
Orleans were laid by the French. 

REVIEW 

Why did Spain claim the country north of the Gulf of Mexico ? 
Why did England claim much of the same country? Why did 
France also claim it? Did either of these nations have any real 
right to the country ? By whom were the Great Lakes discovered ? 
By whom was the Mississippi River first explored? Give a brief 
account of the voyage of Marquette and Joliet. What did La Salle 
do? What part of the United States was included in Louisiana? 
What part of North America was claimed by France ? Where did 
the French form settlements ? 


NATHANIEL BACON 
AND LIFE IN OLD VIRGINIA 
I. A YOUNG PLANTER 

An accomplished youth. — At about the time that 

Jacques Marquette was founding his mission at Sault 
Sainte Marie there was living in England a young man 
whose name was Nathaniel Bacon. He was a fine scholar, 
brilliant, wise, and brave. It was predicted that he would 
become a famous man. But he was discontented and wild. 
He was dissatisfied with his home and wished to travel. 

At length his father, to gratify him, consented that he 
might go to Virginia. He gave him the means to start 
a plantation in that new country; and everybody hoped 
that the young man would do well and gain for himself 
both riches and renown. 

In Virginia. — When Bacon arrived at Jamestown he 
found it quite a busy and prosperous place. More than 
sixty years had passed since John Smith and the first 
English settlers had landed there. The colony had grown 
until now there were forty thousand people in Virginia. 
Not many, however, were in Jamestown. They lived on 
large farms or plantations near the James River and 
along the banks of some of the other large streams. 

140 


A YOUNG PLANTER 


141 



Each of the plantations was itself a little settlement. 
Dense woods or dreary marshes surrounded it, and it was 
far from any other settlement. There were no roads, and 
all travel was by boats on the rivers and inlets. Once in 
a long while a ship from England would sail up the river. 
It would stop at each plantation to sell goods or to deliver 


In an old Virginia mansion 

various articles that had been ordered from London. Per¬ 
haps also it would leave letters from the old country. 
When it returned, it would stop again, to take off the 
tobacco which the planter had raised for the English 
market. Often many weeks would pass on one of these 
plantations without any news from the rest of the world. 






142 


NATHANIEL BACON 


The plantation. — Nathaniel Bacon chose for his plan¬ 
tation a large tract of land on the Janies River not far 
from where the city of Richmond now stands. He began 
work on a grand scale; and his fine manners and good 
judgment won friends for him in every part of the colony. 
His plantation was like a little kingdom in the wilderness. 
There was a great house for the planter himself and many 
smaller ones for the slaves and servants. There were 
barns and tobacco-sheds, a blacksmith shop and a mill. 
All the food needed on the place was raised in the fields. 
Wool and flax were also raised, and these were spun and 
woven and made into clothing. There was no need of 
money, for there was nothing to be bought. 

The slaves. — All the work was done by slaves. Some 
of these were negroes, but the greater number were white 
people. More than a thousand poor white persons — 
men, women, and children — were brought over from 
England every year and sold to the Virginia planters. 
They were not held in slavery for life, as the negroes 
were, but at the end of a certain number of years they 
were said to have redeemed their freedom. They were 
therefore called “ redemptioners.” 



TROUBLE WITH THE INDIANS 


143 



II. TROUBLE WITH THE INDIANS 

An Indian raid. — Nathaniel Bacon might have pros¬ 
pered and grown rich had it not been for his restless, 
ambitious nature. Three or four years after going to his 
plantation an event took place which changed all his 
fortunes. A band of Indians from the north made a raid 
into the country, destroyed some of the crops on Bacon’s 


“A band of Indians made a raid into the country” 

plantation, and killed one of his men. All the planters 
were in dismay. They sent word to the governor of the 
colony asking his help, but no help came. 

Sir William Berkeley. — Now the governor, whose name 
was Sir William Berkeley, was a proud, self-willed man 
who cared for no one but himself. He had ruled Virginia 
for more than twenty-five years, and during that time had 




144 


NATHANIEL BACON 


oppressed the people in every way that he could. He was 
feared by all and loved by none. 

Bacon a rebel. —When Bacon learned that the governor 
would not protect the planters against the Indians, he made 
up his mind to take the matter into his own hands. He 
armed some of his servants, he called upon his neighbors 
to join him, and started out through the woods to punish 
the savages. He was soon overtaken by a messenger 
from the governor bidding all to return to their homes. 

“ Tell Governor Berkeley/’ said Bacon, “ that we shall 
not obey him. Since he refuses to protect us against the 
Indians we will protect ourselves.” 

“In that case,” said the messenger, “the governor 
warns you that he will consider you as rebels and will 
punish you as such.” 

A popular hero. — Bacon was now more determined 
than ever. He continued his march and drove the Indians 
back into their own place. Everybody admired his pluck 
and courage; and when he returned home the colonists 
north of the James River elected him a member of the 
house of burgesses, or legislature, at Jamestown. All this 
made Governor Berkeley very angry, and he caused Bacon 
to be arrested and tried for disobeying his orders. 

The governor’s treachery.—But Bacon’s friends rallied 
around him, and the governor did not dare to punish him. 
He allowed the young man to go free, and promised to 
give him a commission to lead the soldiers of the colony 
against the Indians. But the commission was not made out. 
Several days passed, and then Bacon was told that the gov- 


TROUBLE WITH THE INDIANS 


145 


ernor was plotting against his life. One dark night he 
stole away from the town and took refuge among his friends. 
Berkeley sent out some soldiers to search for him. They 
went to his house, ran their swords through his bed, and 
looked in every hiding place; but no Bacon could they find. 

How Bacon obtained his commission. — A few weeks 
later news came that the rebel, as he was called, was 



head of an army. There was great 

confusion. The governor’s soldiers were called out, 
and the burgesses met to determine what to do. But 
before anything could be done, Bacon, with more than 
three hundred armed men, marched into the town. The 
governor’s soldiers were few and they could do nothing 

barnes’s el. —10 




146 


NATHANIEL BACON 


against so strong a force. The governor himself was 
greatly excited. He rushed out between the lines and 
called upon Bacon to shoot him if he dared. 

“ No,” said Bacon, “ we do not wish to hurt a hair of 
any man’s head ; but we have come for a commission to 
save us from the Indians — the commission which you 
have promised; and we will have it before we go.” 

“ Yes, we will have it! we will have it! ” shouted his 
men ; and they primed their muskets. 

“Wait! wait!” cried one of the governor’s friends. 
“Wait till to-morrow, and you shall have the - Commission.” 

Bacon’s men lowered their guns and promised to wait, 
and Bacon himself walked into the state house and made 
a stirring speech to the burgesses. In the end the gov¬ 
ernor, much against his will, signed the commission, and 
the burgesses passed some excellent laws which were known 
for many years afterward as “ Bacon’s laws.”. 

More trouble with the Indians. — In the meanwhile the 
Indians had made another raid into the country north of 
the James. They had burned the houses, driven off the 
cattle, and destroyed the crops of several plantations, and 
had killed some of the people. Bacon, now having his 
commission, mustered his men and marched promptly 
against them. But no sooner was he at a safe distance 
than Berkeley again declared him to be a rebel and called 
out the militia. Twelve hundred militiamen, supposing 
that they were to fight Indians, answered his call. But 
when they learned that they were to pursue Bacon and his 
men they disbanded and scattered to their homes. 


A TYRANT’S REVENGE 


147 


Flight of the governor. — Bacon was in the Indian 
country when he heard what Berkeley had done. “ It 
vexes me to the heart,” he said, “ that while I am hunting 
wolves that are destroying innocent lambs, the governor 
should be trying to put me like corn between two mill¬ 
stones.” And with that he turned his army about and 
marched straight back to Jamestown. The governor, find¬ 
ing himself with but few friends, embarked in a boat and 
sailed hurriedly away; nor did he feel himself safe until 
he was on the farther side of Chesapeake Bay. 

III. A TYRANT’S REVENGE 

Another Indian raid. — Bacon was now the real gov¬ 
ernor of Virginia and he found plenty of work to do. 
The Indians made another raid upon the plantations, and 
he was obliged to march against them for the third time. 
It was a hard campaign. But the savages were so badly 
beaten that they gave no more trouble for a long time. 

The governor’s return. — All this time Berkeley was 
busy on the other side of the Chesapeake, calling to his 
aid every man that was willing to serve him. He fitted 
out seventeen small vessels and with six hundred men 
sailed back to Jamestown and took possession of the place. 
He made great haste to build a palisade and raise earth¬ 
works around the town; but before he could finish them, 
Bacon and his men returned hurriedly from the Indian 
country and laid siege to the place. In the dead of night 
the governor and his men embarked in boats and dropped 
silently down the river. Early in the morning Bacon 


148 


NATHANIEL BACON 


marched into Jamestown, but found there only deserted 
houses, two or three horses, and a small quantity of corn. 

The burning of Jamestown. — What should be done? 
The men could not stay in that empty place without food. 

If they went out in 
search of supplies, 
Berkeley might re¬ 
turn and complete 
his fortifications. A 
council was called. 
“ Better burn the 
town,” said one, 
“ than let it serve 
as a shelter for the 
false governor.” 

“ Yes, burn it! 
burn it!” cried others. 

Some of the men 
ran and set fire to 
their own houses, 
and soon the whole place was ablaze. 

Thus the first English town in America was destroyed. 
It was never rebuilt. Of the old Jamestown, all that is 
left is part of the church tower. 

Death of Bacon. — Bacon called the leading men of the 
colony together, and did all that he could to restore quiet 
and peace. But his health was broken by the hardships 
he had undergone. When at the highest point of success 
he was taken ill. In a few days he died. There was 



Burning of Jamestown 



A TYRANT’S REVENGE 


149 


no one to take his place as a leader. His men, therefore, 
dispersed and went sadly back to their homes, leaving 
nothing in the way to pre¬ 
vent the governor’s return. 

Berkeley’s revenge.— 

Very severe was Berkeley 
when he again took control 
of the government. He 
hanged a number of Bacon’s 
friends; he punished some 
by fines and imprison¬ 
ment ; he drove others into 
banishment; even women 
and children were made to 
feel his vengeance. When 
the king heard of his 
cruelty, he removed him 01d church tower at Jamestown. (The 

J 7 ' church itself was rebuilt in 1907) 

from his office. Deserted 

by all his friends, the old tyrant returned to England and 
died there of a broken heart. 

Jamestown having been destroyed, the capital of the 
colony was afterwards established at Williamsburg, about 
ten miles to the northwest. 

REVIEW 

Describe the life of the people in Virginia seventy years after 
its first settlement. Why did Bacon refuse to obey the orders of 
Governor Berkeley ? Why did he destroy Jamestown ? What was 
the character of Berkeley ? 






WILLIAM PENN 

AND THE SETTLEMENT OF PENNSYLVANIA 
I. FATHER AND SON 

Penn’s childhood. — It is now more than two hundred 
and fifty years since William Penn was born in London. 
His father was a rich man, and one of the greatest of 
England’s admirals. William when a child was very 
bright, and handsome, and thoughtful. The admiral 
hoped that he would grow up to be a brilliant and 
successful man. When he sailed with his fleet to dis¬ 
tant seas, and engaged in battle with the ships of Spain, 
his thoughts were still at home with his young wife and 
his little son. 

As soon as William was old enough, the best teachers 
that could be found were employed to give him instruc¬ 
tion. He learned fast and was soon ready for college. 
When still quite young he was sent to Oxford University, 
where he was very diligent and well-behaved. But he 
had some strange ways which no one could understand. 
He would often shut himself up in his room and sit there 
alone for hours, doing nothing but think. He also talked 
a great deal about a strange light which he said some¬ 
times shone in his heart and gave him peace of mind 

150 


FATHER AND SON 


151 



William Penn 


The Quakers. — One day a Quaker preacher came into 
Oxford, and William and some other students went to 
hear him. We do not 'know what he said, but his words 
had a great influence upon the young men, and they at- 



152 


WILLIAM PENN 


tended his meetings again and again. Now the Quakers 
were a very peculiar people, and were not regarded with 
much favor in England. They called themselves Friends. 
They said that all men were equal; and therefore they 
would not take off their hats as a sign of homage, even to 
the king. They called the churches “ steeple houses,” and 
did not believe that any man ought to be paid for preach¬ 
ing the gospel. They said that women were as intelligent 
as men and ought to have equal rights with them. They 
were opposed to war and to all kinds of oppression. They 
believed in plainness of speech, and therefore never said 
“mister,” or “sir,” or “madam,” but called every one, 
even the king, by his given name. They dressed very 
plainly, lived very quietly, and were afraid of no man. 
All these things pleased William Penn very much, and he 
resolved to become a Quaker. 

Expelled from college. — One of the first things that 
he did was to join with a few of his young friends who 
believed as he did, and tear the gowns from the backs of 
some students who believed differently. This was done 
to emphasize their belief in plainness of dress. When 
the professors heard what had been done, William and his 
companions were sent home in disgrace. What must 
have been the feelings of proud Admiral Penn when he 
learned that the son whom he loved so much had become 
a Quaker and was expelled from college! 

A disappointed father. —The fond father did everything 
he could to change William’s way of thinking. Presently 
he sent him to Paris to amuse himself for a year in that 


PENNSYLVANIA 


153 


gay city. He got him a commission in the king’s army 
that was fighting rebels in Ireland. He gave him money, 
pleasure, everything that one could wish for. And when 
the young man persisted in being a Quaker, he said, “ Wil¬ 
liam, if you will only agree to take your hat off in my 
presence and before the king and the Duke of York, I 
will say no more, and you shall have your will.” 

66 1 cannot be a respecter of persons,” answered Wil¬ 
liam ; and his father in despair drove him from home. 

The admiral, however, could not remain angry with 
his son. He soon sent for him and forgave him. “ You 
have disappointed me,” he said, “ but I honor you for the 
courage with which you have stuck to your convictions.” 

William fined and imprisoned. — William now spent 
much of his time in preaching at different places in Eng¬ 
land. For doing this he was often fined and sometimes 
shut up in prison for months at a time. But with all his 
plainness, there was a nobility in his speech and actions 
which won the hearts of many persons in high authority. 
The Duke of York, who was the king’s brother, became 
one of his firmest friends. 

II. PENNSYLVANIA 

Collecting a debt. — The English government was owing 
Admiral Penn a large sum for his services; but as the 
king needed all the money that he could get hold of, 
there was small hope of the debt being paid. When the 
admiral died, the greater part of his estate went to his 
son William. William tried in various ways to induce 


154 


WILLIAM PENN 



the government to pay him, but without suocess. At 
length he said, “ Suppose that, in place of paying me the 
money, you give me a grant of land in America. It would 
be an act of both justice and economy.” 

This proposition was very pleasing to the Duke of 

York. It was pleasing 
also to the king, for the 
land in America had cost 
him nothing. In the 
end it was agreed that 
William Penn should 
be given a broad tract 
of land on the west side 
of the Delaware Eiver 
and that this should 
be accepted as payment 
for the debt that was 
owing him. 

Pennsylvania. — 
“Here, William!” said 
the king, jokingly, “I 
am doing a fine thing 

* Here, William J ’ said the king ** ^ give all these Seas, 

bays, rivers, and forest 
lands to such a fighting man as you are. But you must 
promise that you will not take to scalping.” 

“ I will answer for William,” said the Duke of York. 
“But what shall we call the new empire that he is to 
found for us in the wilds of America ? ” 


PENNSYLVANIA 


155 


“If I might have my preference/’ answered Penn, 
“I would name the country New Wales; for Wales was 
the first home of our family.” 

“ Nay, nay,” said the king. “ I am the godfather of 
that country, and I will do the naming of it. It shall be 
called Pennsylvania, which in plain English is Penn’s 
Woods.” 

Penn was not pleased with this. He thought it looked 
like foolish vanity to call the country by his own name. 

“ Leave off the ‘ Penn/ ” he said, “ and call it Sylvania.” 
And when the char¬ 
ter was being made 
out, he offered the 
king’s secretary 
twenty guineas if 
he would write 
it so. 

“ There is no 
cause for you to feel 
proud,” said the 
king. 7 “ I named 
the country not in 
your honor, but in 
honor of your fa¬ 
ther, the admiral.” And after that, William made no 
more objections. 

A new colony. —What use would William Penn make 
of that great tract of land in the wilds of America? He 
had long wished to establish a colony where the people of 








156 


WILLIAM PENN 


his own society, the Quakers, could live in peace and be free 
to do and say whatever they believed was right. In Eng¬ 
land they could scarcely open their mouths without being 
fined or imprisoned. In New England matters were even 
worse; for the Puritans who had endured every privation 
to gain freedom for themselves were unwilling that others 
should share that freedom. But in the wild forest region 
by the Delaware, Penn would found a commonwealth where 
everybody, whether Quaker, or Puritan, or Catholic, or 
English Churchman, might speak his own mind on all 
subjects, and be free to worship God as he chose. 

New Jersey. — He had already taken a step toward 
this, but not with much success. Four years before, he 
had become part owner of the lands on the east side of 
the Delaware River, including about half of the present 
state of New Jersey. A few Quakers had gone over and 
a few feeble settlements had been begun along the river; 
but there were disputes with the Duke of York about the 
title to the lands, and Penn felt that he could never carry 
out his plans satisfactorily there. The eastern part of 
New Jersey, where there were now many settlements, 
was controlled by Sir George Carteret as proprietor, and 
there the same disputes w T ere going on. In truth, the 
only vacant territory between Maine and Virginia was 
the great tract which Penn had just secured west of 
the Delaware. 

Quaker and king. — He was not long in carrying out 
his plans. He advertised to sell his land very cheap, 
and soon many emigrants of all classes were on their way 


A QUAKER COLONY 


157 


to Pennsylvania. When Penn himself was ready to 
embark, he called upon the king to bid him good-by. 

“ I f ear I shall not see you again/’ said the king. “ I 
shall soon hear that you have gone into the savages’ war 
kettle. What is to prevent it ? ” 

“ Their own inner light/’ answered Penn. “ More¬ 
over, as I intend to pay them a fair price for their lands, 
1 shall not be molested.” 

“Buy their lands! Why, is not the whole country 
mine ? ” 

“ No, Charles, thou hast no right to their lands. The 
red men were the first occupants of the soil, and they are 
the true owners.” 

u What! what! have I not the right of discovery ? ” 

“ Well, Charles, let us suppose a case. Suppose a canoe 
load of savages from an unknown region should by some 
accident discover Great Britain. Would all this country 
be theirs or thine ? Wouldst thou vacate or sell ? ” 

The king could not answer. He had never thought 
of the matter in that light. 

III. A QUAKER COLONY 

Philadelphia. — William Penn chose for the site of his 
chief settlement the high ground between the Delaware 
and Schuylkill rivers. There he laid off a city, with 
straight streets crossing each other at right angles. It 
was the first city ever planned so perfectly. He named it 
Philadelphia, from two Greek words meaning “ brotherly 
love.’' 


158 


WILLIAM PENN 



The Treaty. — A great council was held under an 

old elm tree at Shackamaxon, now Kensington, near 
Philadelphia. Penn and his companions went to the meet¬ 
ing unarmed; the natives, seeing them so, threw their own 
arms upon the ground. All seated themselves in a semi¬ 
circle on the grass, and then Penn made a speech to the 


“A great council was held” 

chiefs that were present. He told them that he and his 
friends had come unarmed because they did not believe 
in fighting, and never used weapons. And he assured 
them that he wished nothing so much as to live in friend¬ 
ship with them and all men. 

Then he explained to them his wish to buy their lands, 
and showed the merchandise that he would give in ex- 




A QUAKER COLONY 


159 


change for them. A treaty was drawn up and agreed to; 
there was a general shaking of hands, and a strange mut¬ 
tering of good wishes; and then all departed in happy 
mood to their several homes. This was the first treaty 
ever made without being strengthened by an oath, and it 
was perhaps the only treaty with the Indians that was 
never broken. While in all the other colonies the settlers 
were harassed and distressed by many Indian wars and 
massacres, the people of Pennsylvania lived in peace and 
were never molested. 

What the Indians thought of Penn. — No other white 
man was admired by the Indians so much as Penn. He 
walked with them, sat with them, visited them in their 
little huts,-ate with them their hominy and roasted acorns. 
Once when some were having a game at jumping, he 
joined them and as he had practiced athletics in his youth, 
he out jumped them all. It was something new to the red 
men to see the white chief take an interest in their own 
modes of life, and they honored and loved him for it. 

Progress of the colony. — Not only was Penn discreet 
and kind in his treatment of the Indians, but the laws 
which he made for the government of his people were 
wise and just. Although some found fault and were 
troublesome, the most of the colonists were contented and 
well behaved. The new city on the Delaware grew very 
fast. In the second year a school was opened in a little 
house built of cedar and pine planks, and Enoch Flower 
was the teacher. A printing press was set up. There 
were shops and stores and gardens and farms. And while 


160 


WILLIAM PENN 



“He outjumped them all” 


the most of the people were Quakers and worshiped in 
their own plain little meeting houses, all others who came 
were welcome and were permitted to hold such opinions as 
they chose. 

IV. GOVERNOR PENN 

Delaware.—About a year after the beginnings were 
made at Philadelphia, the Duke of York gave up to 
William Penn all his claims to the lands west of Dela¬ 
ware Bay. These lands comprised what is now known 
as the state of Delaware. Settlements had been made 
there long before by the Swedes and by the Dutch, 
and later by people from England. Penn said that all 
the colonists should be governed by the same wise and 






GOVERNOR PENN 


161 



gentle laws that he had made for Pennsylvania. As long 
as he lived, the “ three lower counties on the Delaware,” 
as that region was called, formed really a part of Penn¬ 
sylvania. At a later time they became a separate colony 
— the colony of Delaware. 

Return to England. — It was not long before Penn 
was obliged to leave his colony and return to Eng¬ 
land. His enemies in that country were making false 
accusations against him, and he went back to defend him¬ 
self. At about the 
same time, King 
Charles died, and 
the Duke of York 
became king of 
England, being 
known as James II. 

Now James II. 
was a Catholic, and 
he was accused of 
wanting to estab¬ 
lish the Catholic 
religion in Eng¬ 
land. His people 
were very bitter against him, and because he was friendly 
to William Penn, they declared that Penn was a Catholic 
in disguise, ready to help the king carry out his designs. 

Imprisoned again. — In the end James II. was driven 
from his throne and obliged to find safety in France, and 
his daughter Mary and her husband William of Orange 

BARNES’S EL. — 11 


Penn’s house in Philadelphia 



162 


WILLIAM PENN 


were made queen and king of England. Then Penn’s 
enemies accused him of plotting to bring James back, and 
although nothing could be proved against him he was 
several times shut up in prison. 

Once more in Pennsylvania. — About seventeen years 
after the first settlement at Philadelphia, Penn sailed once 
more for America. He took his family with him, and ex¬ 
pected to stay in Pennsylvania during the rest of his life. 
He found his colony in a very flourishing condition. Phila¬ 
delphia was a busy, bustling little city. It was larger 
than New York, although only one fourth as old. Count¬ 
ing those in all the settlements, there were more than 
twenty thousand people in Pennsylvania. 

The governor’s mansion. — At Pennsbury Manor on 
the Delaware, Governor Penn, as he was now called, had 
a fine country seat, and there he lived in the style of an 
English country gentleman. While, like other Quakers, 
he was plain of speech and simple in manners, he did not 
deny himself of the luxuries to which he had been accus¬ 
tomed in his father’s house. In his spacious mansion 
there were many signs of wealth and good taste that 
were very uncommon in the colonies. There one might 
see costly tables of solid oak, damask table cloths and 
napkins, curtains and blankets of softest silk, and down- 
filled cushions covered with satin or plush and embroi¬ 
dered with the finest needlework. But in that fine 
mansion everybody that came was welcome. In the halls 
were long tables, kept always standing and ready to be 
loaded with food for the guests that might come. At one 


GOVERNOR PENN 


163 



time when an entertainment was given to the Indians, a 
table was put up under the poplar trees before the house, 
and a hundred roasted turkeys were served at a single 
meal. 

A man to be admired. — Governor Penn did not dress 
as plainly as the other Quakers. His clothes were made 


“He treated all with the same gentleness and courtesy” 

of rich materials, and they were cut and fitted with great 
care. His hat, although broad-brimmed, was not very dif¬ 
ferent from those worn by the gentlemen at King Charles s 
court. He liked fine wigs, and in a single year ordered four 
very costly ones from London. He was kind and friendly 
to rich and poor alike. All men, in his eyes, were equal, 
and he treated all with the same gentleness and courtesy. 











164 


WILLIAM PENN 


His last years. — But Penn was not permitted to stay 
long in his colony. His enemies at home were trying to 
pass a law depriving him of the right to govern Penn¬ 
sylvania. And so, to defend himself, he was obliged to 
return to England. He had been in America only about 
two years. 

Many troubles now beset him. He was defrauded of 
very much of his property in England. His money was 
gone. He was imprisoned nine months for debt. Disap¬ 
pointment and anxiety bore heavily upon him. His health 
failed. He at length retired to the quiet of his country 
home, but he never regained his strength. Sixteen years 
after his return to England he died. 

REVIEW 

Who were the Quakers? What were some of their peculiar 
beliefs and habits ? Why did not Admiral Penn wish his son Wil¬ 
liam to become one of them ? For what was the English government 
in debt to Penn ? Why was the debt not paid ? What proposition 
did William Penn finally make to the king ? What lands were 
granted to him in settlement of the debt ? Why did he wish to have 
control of such lands? What right had King Charles to these 
lands ? Why did he call the region Pennsylvania ? How did 
Penn deal with the Indians ? Why did the Indians have so much 
esteem for him ? Why did the colony prosper so well ? Of what 
did Penn’s enemies accuse him ? In what respects did life in Penn¬ 
sylvania differ from life in Massachusetts ? 


JAMES OGLETHORPE 

AND THE SETTLEMENT OF GEORGIA . 


I. A FRIEND TO THE POOR 

Prisoners for debt. — In the days of William Penn 
and later it was a dangerous thing to go in debt, especially 
in England. If a person was unfortunate and could not 
pay at the promised time he was shut up in prison; and 
if he had no friends who were willing to satisfy his cred¬ 
itors, he would be kept there probably as long as he lived. 
He was treated very badly in the jail, and was often 
obliged to stay in the same room with the vilest criminals. 
Many a poor man whose heart was gentle and good, was 
thus imprisoned and made to suffer great distress, not for 
any crime but because he had met with misfortune. 

Once, when the times were very hard, the prisons of 
London were crowded with such men. Their misery was 

such that it ought to have touched the hardest 
1728 . ° 

hearts ; but in those days very few people seemed 
to trouble themselves about the sufferings of others. 

James Oglethorpe. — It so happened, however, that 
there was in the city a rich country gentleman who was 
moved with pity when he heard about these poor prisoners. 
The name of this man was James Oglethorpe. He had 

165 


166 


JAMES OGLETHORPE 


been a soldier in the king’s army and had fought bravely 
in a great war that had but lately ended ; and upon his 
return home his friends had sent him to Parliament. 
He now visited the prisons in London and saw for him¬ 
self how cruelly the poor debtors were being treated. 

“ I must do something to relieve them,” he said. 

Oglethorpe’s plan of relief.—But what could he do? 
He brought the matter before Parliament and succeeded in 
having many of the debtors set free. And yet this did 
not relieve them from distress.. They had lost their 
homes; there was no work for them to do; they must beg 
or starve on the streets. Then he thought of a plan. In 
America there was room enough for every man to have a 
home; the climate was mild, the soil was rich, any person 
with energy might earn a livelihood. Why not find a 
place in chat new country where the poor debtors of England 
might make themselves homes ? 

Georgia. —George II. was the king of England at that 
time. When Oglethorpe explained his plans to him he 
was much pleased. He readily agreed to aid the kind 
enterprise by giving up to it all the unsettled region 
which lay between the English colony of South Carolina 
and the Spanish province of Florida. Oglethorpe and 
some of his friends were to hold the lands in trust for 
the poor people who should settle there; and Oglethorpe 
was to be the governor of the colony. The new province 
was to be called Georgia, in honor of the king; and 
Parliament voted to give a large sum of money to aid 
in founding the colony. 


A GLANCE BACKWARD 


167 


II. A GLANCE BACKWARD 

The Spanish in Georgia. — Oglethorpe without delay 
hastened to carry out his plans for the settlement of 
Georgia. The history of the region was no doubt well 
known to him. The English had all along claimed posses¬ 
sion of it on account of John Cabot’s discovery. The claim, 
however, was early disputed by both Spain and France. 
Spain asserted that 
it was a part of 
Florida. Spanish 
adventurers had 
made more than 
one expedition into 
the territory. It 
was through Georgia 
that Narvaez, with 
Cabeza de Vaca and 
a company of noble 
young Spaniards, 
had marched to 
disappointment and 
defeat. It was 
through southern Georgia that De Soto had led his band 
of gold seekers, his path marked everywhere by destruction 
and misery. 

The French in Georgia and Carolina. — The French had 
been the first to explore the coast of Georgia with care. 
Jean Ribaut, a Huguenot sea captain, discovered the St. 













168 


JAMES OGLETHORPE 


John’s River, and gave names to many of the streams that 
enter the sea farther north. He called the country Caro¬ 
lina, in honor of Charles IX., the French king; and, 
as he viewed its rivers and forests, he declared it to 
be “ the fairest, fruitfullest, and jdeasantest of all the 
world.” Where now is Port Royal, in South Carolina, he 
left a few colonists to hold the region for France. They 
built a fort there, but deserted it within a year, being 
unable to maintain themselves in that wilderness place. 

The English take possession. — For nearly a hundred 
years the country was neglected ; the long coast from 
Roanoke Island to the St. John’s River was without a 
white inhabitant. Then King Charles II. of England 
granted the whole of Carolina, from Virginia to Florida, 
and from the Atlantic to the Pacific, to eight wealthy 
men called lords-proprietors, who agreed to establish 
colonies there. They built a fort and founded a town at 
the mouth of the Ashley River, and named the place 
Charleston. This was the beginning of the English colony 
of Carolina. Many people were attracted to the new 
colony, and a number of settlements sprang up along the 
rivers and by the coast. The colonists were much dis¬ 
satisfied with the rule of the lords-proprietors, and at last 
succeeded in freeing themselves from their control. This 
occurred just at the time when Oglethorpe was 
beginning to form his plans for the relief of the Eng¬ 
lish poor. The king divided the country into two colonies, 
or royal provinces, North Carolina and South Carolina, and 
appointed a governor over each. 


GEORGIA 


1G9 


Conflicting claims. — Although the English claimed 
that the province of South Carolina extended to the St. 
John’s River, no settlements had been made south of the 
Savannah. The Spanish also claimed all the country be¬ 
tween these rivers, but had made no efforts to colonize it. 
The time had come when the question of ownership must 
be settled. The nation that should be first to plant a 
colony in the disputed territory would be the most likely 
to make its title good. And this, perhaps, was the reason 
why King George consented so readily to the plan of 
colonization proposed by Oglethorpe. 

II. GEORGIA 

The first colonists. — Soon a ship was ready to sail 
with the first company of emigrants. Thirty families 
were on board, and Oglethorpe himself sailed with them. 
They had a prosperous voyage, and in January, 1733, 
reached the Savannah River. They landed and began at 
once to prepare themselves homes. Some set to work to 
clear the fields and make the land ready for planting; 
some were busy building houses; others marked out the 
streets of the town, which they named Savannah. “ All 
worked with a will,” wrote one. “ There were no idlers; 
even the boys and girls did their part.” 

Thus the thirteenth and last of the English colonies in 
our country had its beginning. 

Other colonists. — Soon other settlers began to arrive. 
Many classes of people came ; for Oglethorpe had made it 
known that all who were oppressed in any way would be 


170 


JAMES OGLETHORPE 



welcome in his colony. There were not only poor 
Englishmen but Scotch Highlanders and Moravians and 

Bavarians and Jews 
and many others. 

Oglethorpe’s laws. 
— Oglethorpe tried to 
enforce good laws in 
his colony. One of 
these forbade negro 
slavery; but, since 
slaves were held in 
all the other colonies 
in America, his people 
thought that this was 
a very hard law. Be¬ 
fore twenty years had 
passed they succeeded 
in doing away with 
it, and negroes were 
bought and sold in 
“Aii worked with a will” Georgia just as else¬ 

where. 

Very soon the men who had been most befriended 
by Oglethorpe turned against him. Although he had 
made it possible for them to have their own homes and 
to live in a free country, they were dissatisfied because 
he did not do more. They sent complaints about him 
to England, and tried to have him removed from his 
office of governor. 






GEORGIA 


171 


The war with Spain. — Five or six years after the 
landing at Savannah a war broke out between England 
and Spain. Governor Oglethorpe mustered all the fighting 
men in Georgia and made an attack on St. Augustine in 
Florida. But the place was so strongly guarded that the 
Georgians were driven off and obliged to return home. 
A short time afterward a Spanish fleet sailed along the 
coast of Georgia, and a number of Spaniards came to land 
with the intention of overrunning the country. But 
Oglethorpe and his soldiers bravely withstood them, a 
bloody battle was fought, and the invaders were glad to 
return to their ships and sail away. 

End of a long life. — When the colony was eleven 
years old Oglethorpe left it and returned to England. 
Perhaps he was tired of trying to serve a thankless 
people, and besides this, his affairs at home required his 
attention. Although he never saw his colony again, he 
was always warmly interested in its welfare and ready 
to give it such aid as he could. He lived to be a very, 
very old man, — ninety-six years of age, — and was hale 
and hearty and joyful to the very end. 

REVIEW 

Name all the English colonies you have learned about in this 
book. With which of the colonies was Captain John Smith con¬ 
nected ? Which colony was settled by Pilgrims? by Puritans? 
by Roger Williams ? by lords-proprietors ? by Catholics ? by 
Quakers? by the Dutch? What was the object of James Ogle¬ 
thorpe in founding the colony of Georgia? What classes of 
people were among the first settlers in Georgia? 


BENJAMIN FRANKLIN 
AND THE PROGRESS OF THE COLONIES 
I. A STUDIOUS BOY 

Franklin’s childhood. — Benjamin Franklin was born 
in Boston on the 17th of January, 1706. His parents 
were poor people who lived in a humble home on Milk 
Street, and he was the youngest son in the family of 
seventeen children. 

His schools. — Little Benjamin learned to read almost 
as soon as he could talk. He was so bright and studious 
that his parents wished to educate him for the ministry. 
When he was eight years old, therefore, they sent him to 
the Latin School where boys were prepared for Harvard 
College. He learned very fast and soon made his way to 
the head of his class; but his father had little money, and 
the cost of keeping him in school would be very great. 
His parents talked the matter over again, and the plan of 
educating him for a preacher was given up. 

Benjamin was taken out of the Latin School and sent 
to a cheaper place where he learned to write and to cal¬ 
culate— two things very necessary to one who was to fol¬ 
low a trade. When he was ten years old he was taken 
out of school altogether. Although so young, there were 
many things he could do, and his father needed his help. 

172 


A STUDIOUS BOY 


178 



His work. — Mr. Franklin was a candle maker, 
and for two years he kept Benjamin busy cutting wicks, 
molding candles, and waiting on customers. But the 
lad did not like the business. When he saw the ships 
come into the harbor with their cargoes of goods from 
strange lands beyond the sea, he thought that he would 
like above all things to be a sailor. But his father ob¬ 
jected to this and 
kept him in the 
shop more closely 
than ever. Then he 
turned his attention 
to books. 

His books. — 

There were no chil¬ 
dren’s books in those 
days, and not much 
of anything that a 
boy at the present 
time would care to 
read. But Benja¬ 
min Franklin read 
all the books he 
could get hold of. 

Sometimes he would 
borrow a volume 

and sit up nearly all night reading it so as to return 
it promptly. When James Franklin, one of Benjamin's 
brothers, set up a printing press in Boston, his father said, 


‘He was apprenticed to learn the printer’s trade” 






174 


BENJAMIN FRANKLIN 


“ Here is a chance for Benjamin. He is a lover of books. 
He shall learn to be a printer.” And so, at the age of 
twelve years, the lad was apprenticed to his brother to 
learn the printer’s trade. 

The newspaper that was issued from James Franklin’s 
press was called the New England Courant. It was the 
fourth newspaper published in America. People thought 
that James Franklin was very foolish. One newspaper, 
they said, was enough for the entire country. 

In those days it was unsafe for a newspaper to criticise 
men who were in power. But the Courant was very out¬ 
spoken from the start. The magistrates, therefore, caused 
James Franklin to be imprisoned for a month; and it was 
ordered that he should no longer publish the Courant. 
But in spite of this order, the paper was issued every week 
as before. It was printed, however, by Benjamin Franklin; 
and for a long time thereafter it bore his name as editor and 
publisher. 

II. A TRIAL OF NEW FORTUNES 

Franklin leaves home. — James Franklin s temper was 
not improved by his month’s imprisonment. He was 
always finding fault with his workmen, and sometimes 
he would beat young Benjamin unmercifully. The lad 
bore this ill treatment until he was seventeen years 
old, and then made up his mind to endure it no longer. 
He would go to some other place and look for work. 
But his brother warned the other printers in Boston 
not to employ him; and so Benjamin decided to run 
away from home. 


A TRIAL OF NEW FORTUNES 


175 


He visits New York. — He sold his books to raise a 
little money, put his best clothes into a bundle, and with¬ 
out bidding good-by to any one, took passage on a packet 
sloop that was just ready to sail from the harbor. Three 
days afterward he stepped ashore at New York. 

New York, when Franklin visited it, was a small town 
at the extreme southern end of Manhattan Island. The 
stockade, or wall, that had been built by the Dutch, might 
still be seen on its north side. Above Wall Street there 



New York as Franklin saw it 


were only a few outlying dwellings surrounded by vege¬ 
table gardens and cow pastures. 

William Bradford. — Young Franklin’s first care was 
to find the shop of William Bradford, the official printer 
of the colony. Mr. Bradford had put up the first printing 
press in New York, and had published the first bound book. 
He received the boy very kindly, but told him that it was 
useless to look for work in New York. There was not a 
single newspaper in the place, and not enough printing 
was done to support the half dozen persons who were 
already engaged in the business. He advised Benjamin 



176 


BENJAMIN FRANKLIN 


to go to Philadelphia, where printing was more in de¬ 
mand. The boy reflected that Philadelphia was a hun¬ 
dred miles farther from home; but, having set out to seek 
his fortune, he would not turn back. 

Franklin’s journey across New Jersey. — There are 
two ways of going from New York to Philadelphia — one 
by sea, and the other by land across New Jersey. Since 
young Franklin had but little money he decided to take 
the shorter and cheaper route. The trip can now be made 
in less than two hours; but there were no railroads at 
that time, nor would there be for more than a hundred 
years. There was not even a stagecoach anywhere in 
the colonies. Franklin walked from Perth Amboy, on the 
eastern coast of New Jersey, to Burlington on the Delaware. 

The only road was a rough bridle path through green 
woods and desolate clearings, and the boy trudged along 
for nearly three days before reaching Burlington. There 
he took a boat, and after passing a night on the Delaware, 
he arrived, early one Sunday morning, in Philadelphia. 

In Philadelphia. — As Franklin stepped ashore at the 
foot of Market Street, none who saw him could have 
guessed that he would one day be the greatest man in 
Pennsylvania. He was dressed in his working clothes; 
his pockets were stuffed out with spare wearing apparel; 
and all the money that he possessed was little more than 
a dollar. He had not a single friend. Yet he had within 
him those qualities of pluck and endurance that would 
have won success in almost any situation. 

Philadelphia was still a new place, for only forty years 


A SUCCESSFUL CAREER 


177 


had passed since Penn had established his colony there. 
It had as many inhabitants as New York, which was a 
good deal more than twice as old. 
as Boston, which had been settled 
nearly a hundred years. 

Seeking employment. — There 
were only two printing presses in 
the place. One was owned by 
Andrew Bradford, a son of Wil¬ 
liam Bradford of New York. The 
other was controlled by a man 
named Keimer. Mr. Bradford 
was the publisher of the Ameri¬ 
can Mercury , the only newspaper 
outside of Boston, and Franklin 
hoped that he might obtain work 
in his shop. He had no room, 
however, for another printer; but he sent the young man 
to Mr. Keimer, who gave him employment. 

III. A SUCCESSFUL CAREER 

Deceived by the governor. — The pleasant manners 
and manly ways of Benjamin Franklin soon won for 
him many friends. William Keith, the governor, became 
much interested in him, and promised to set him up in a 
printing office of his own. Belying upon this promise, 
Franklin was persuaded to go to England to buy types, 
paper, and a press, on the governor’s credit — for none 
of these things were made in America. 

BARNES’S EL. — 12 


It was almost as large 



An old style printing press 







178 


BENJAMIN FRANKLIN 


The governor, however, proved to be a scoundrel. When 
Franklin arrived in London he found himself deserted by 
his pretended patron, friendless, and without money. 

Returns to Philadelphia. — The strong common sense 
of the young man, together with his ability as a printer, 
carried him safely through every difficulty. He found 
employment in a printing shop and soon had both 
money and friends. Among the latter was an American 
merchant whose name was Denman. This gentleman 
persuaded Franklin to return with him to Philadelphia, 
and take a position in a store which he owned there. 
This appeared to be a turning point in the young man’s 
life, and he was soon busy at work keeping books and 
measuring cloth and selling goods. Scarcely, however, 
was he well settled in his new business when his employer 
died. The store passed into other hands, and Franklin 
was again obliged to find work with his old friend Keimer. 

The “ Pennsylvania Gazette. ” — Soon after this a gentle¬ 
man, who had money to invest, proposed to go into the news¬ 
paper business, and asked Franklin to become his partner, 
Franklin consented, and became the editor and publisher of 
a new paper which he called the Pennsylvania Gazette. 

His services to the country.—As time passed, Frank¬ 
lin became known as one of the leading men in the Eng¬ 
lish colonies. He founded the first circulating library in 
America — the beginning of the present Public Library of 
Philadelphia. He established the University of Pennsyl¬ 
vania. He organized the first fire company in Phila¬ 
delphia, which was also the first in our country. By 


A SUCCESSFUL CAREER 


179 


many ingenious experiments, he learned more about elec¬ 
tricity than the world had ever known before. He 
became famous in foreign countries as a philosopher and 
man of science. The universities of Oxford and Edin¬ 
burgh honored him by giving him the degree of Doctor 
of Laws. 



Carrying the mail 


Postmaster general. —In 1753, when Dr. Franklin was 
forty-seven years old, he was made deputy postmaster 
general for the thirteen colonies. People were astonished 
when he proposed to have the mail carried regularly once 
every week between Philadelphia and Boston. At that 
time there were not seventy post offices in the whole coun¬ 
try. There are now more than seventy thousand. 









180 


BENJAMIN FRANKLIN 


The convention at Albany. — In the meanwhile the 

colonists were beginning to feel great alarm on account 
of the threatening manner of the Indians and French in 
the Northwest, and it was decided to send delegates to a 
convention in Albany, to talk the matter over and provide 
for the defense of the outlying settlements. Dr. Franklin 
was one of the delegates from Pennsylvania. He pre¬ 
sented a plan for the union of all the colonies, and it 
appeared so wise and practicable that the convention 
voted to have it adopted. But neither the English gov¬ 
ernment nor the colonies themselves were willing to try 
the experiment. 

The idea of union. — The plan which Franklin proposed 
was much talked about, 'however; and it set people to 
thinking. Why should not the colonies unite ? Instead 
of each standing alone, why should they not help one 
another? It was thus that Dr. Franklin first put into 
men’s minds the idea of forming that union which is now 
known as the United States of America. 

Franklin’s first mission to England. — The king of 
England and his counselors had but little regard for the 
American people. They made many unjust and oppres¬ 
sive laws, which were designed to enrich English politi¬ 
cians and merchants, without benefiting the colonists. 
At length the colony of Pennsylvania decided to send 
some one to England to advocate the cause of the people. 
Benjamin Franklin was the man chosen for that diffi¬ 
cult mission. He remained abroad five years, pleading 
in behalf of the colonists and winning much esteem 


A STATESMAN AND PATRIOT 


181 


both in England and in France. When he returned 
the colonial assembly publicly thanked him for his 
services to his country. 

IV. A STATESMAN AND PATRIOT 

The Stamp Act. — Soon new troubles arose. The Eng¬ 
lish parliament passed a law for taxing the colonists by 
obliging them to buy stamped paper. No deed or note 
or other document was valid unless it was written on 
this paper, which must be 
bought of the government. 

This law, which is known 
in history as the Stamp 
Act, was opposed by the 
people with all their might. 

Franklin’s second mis¬ 
sion to England. — Dr. 

Franklin had been at 
home scarcely two years 
when he was sent back to 
England to plead against 
this and other oppressive 
measures that were de¬ 
signed to rob the colonists 
of their just rights. He stayed abroad, this time, for 
more than ten years, trying to induce the king to deal 
more liberally with the American people; but his work 
was in vain. 



Benjamin Franklin 



182 


BENJAMIN FRANKLIN 


The Revolutionary War begins. — In May, 1775, 

Franklin returned to Philadelphia. The colonists could 
endure oppression no longer. A battle had just been fought 
at Lexington; the war of the Revolution had begun. 

The Declaration of Independence. — A year later, dele¬ 
gates from all the colonies met in Philadelphia to make 



“ At the court of the French king ” 


plans for the carrying on of the war. These delegates 
in convention formed what is now known as the Con¬ 
tinental Congress of America. A committee was 

1776 ° 

appointed to prepare a declaration of independ¬ 
ence, and Benjamin Franklin was one of that com¬ 
mittee. On the 4th of July the declaration was adopted 






A STATESMAN AND PATRIOT 


183 


by Congress, and tlie thirteen colonies became the United 
States of America. 

Ambassador to France. — Not long after this, Dr. 

Franklin was sent to Paris to represent our country at 

the court of the French king. He soon succeeded in 

bringing about a treaty whereby France acknowledged the 

independence of the American states and agreed to 
1777 ... . ° 

assist them in their war for liberty. He thus secured 

aid for our country in the time of its greatest need, and 

made it possible for the Americans to win the victory. 

Franklin’s last services. —It was not until more 
than two years after the states had gained their freedom 
that he was able to return home ,again. He was 
then nearly eighty years old. The grateful people 
of his state could not do enough to prove their esteem for 
him, and in that same year they elected him president of 
Pennsylvania. The next year he was a delegate to the 
convention which formed our present Constitution. 

In 1790, Dr. Franklin died, honored by the entire 
country in whose service he had spent so many years 
of his life. His grave may still be seen in Philadelphia. 

REVIEW 

How long ago was Benjamin Franklin born? What kind of 
books did children have to read then ? Why was Philadelphia the 
best place for an enterprising young man like Benjamin Franklin ? 
What plan did Dr Franklin propose at the convention in Albany ? 
In what way did the king of England and his counselors oppress 
the American colonists ? In what way was Dr. Franklin of great 
service to the colonies ? 


SIR WILLIAM JOHNSON 

AND THE FRENCH AND INDIAN WAR 


I. A MAN OF AFFAIRS 

William Johnson was about ten years younger than 
Benjamin Franklin. He was born in Ireland, and 
belonged to a rich and influential family. When 
he was about twenty-three years old he came to 
America to take charge of a large tract of land belonging 
to his uncle, who was an admiral in the British navy. 
The land was on the south side of the Mohawk River in 
New York. It was little more than a broad extent of 
woods inhabited by wild animals and roving Indians. 
Young Johnson expected to colonize this tract, to clear 
away the forest trees, and to found a great estate similar 
to those of the rich land-holding gentlemen in England. 

Indian commissioner. — Johnson’s first care was to 
make friends with the Indians. He began to trade with 
them on a large scale. He learned their language, hunted 
with them, lived with them, and welcomed them to his 
home on the Mohawk. By these means, and by always 
treating them justly, he gained their confidence. The 
Mohawk Indians adopted him into their tribe and gave 
him a name which meant, in English, “ the man who has 
charge of affairs.” The governor of the colony appointed 
184 


A MAN OF AFFAIRS 


185 


him commissioner among the Indians, and soon afterwards 
placed him in command of all the New York colonial 
militia for the defense of the frontier. 

The Iroquois. —The estate of which William Johnson 
had the management was on the border of the Indian 
country. Since the earliest times all that region which 
lies between the Mohawk River and Lake Ontario had been 
the home of a powerful confederacy of Indians called the 
Iroquois. In this confederacy there were at first five na¬ 
tions — Mohawks, Onondagas, Cayugas, Oneidas, Senecas. 



Long house of the Iroquois 


They were later joined by their kinsmen, the Tuscaroras, 
from North Carolina. The English then called them the 
Six Nations. 

Enemies of the French.—The Iroquois were bitter 
enemies of the French who were settled in Canada along 
the St. Lawrence River. The fear of these Indians had 
prevented the French from pushing southward at an early 
period and gaining a foothold in the valley of the Hudson. 
The Iroquois stood like a wall between the English colony 
of New York and any foes, whether white or red, that 
might invade it from the north. 



186 


SIR WILLIAM JOHNSON 


The power of the Iroquois. — The war parties of the 
Iroquois wandered as far west as to the prairies of 
Illinois; and they were known and feared by all the 
Indian tribes from the Great Lakes to the Ohio River. 
It was of the utmost importance that they should con¬ 
tinue friendly to the English, and it became William 
Johnson’s duty to see that nothing disturbed that friend¬ 
ship. By his wise management he gained a greater influ¬ 
ence over them than any other white man ever possessed. 

II. THE FRENCH AND INDIAN WAR 

English and French. — For many years there had been 
a growing jealousy between the English colonists and the 
French. The English fur traders in New York and 
Pennsylvania were anxious to extend their business 
among the Indians of the Northwest, but were prevented 
by the French, who claimed all that region as their own. 
The colonists of Virginia had but lately learned of the 
beauty and fertility of the Ohio Valley. They had always 
thought of this region as belonging to Virginia; but the 
French had been the first to occupy it. 

The English at last began to trespass upon the terri¬ 
tories claimed by the French; and the French prepared 
to defend their possessions, and tried to persuade the Indi¬ 
ans to help them against the English colonists. 

The English colonists alarmed. — To the thinking men 
of both nations it was plain that serious trouble was at 
hand. The English colonists from New Hampshire to Vir¬ 
ginia were alarmed, and some of the colonies appointed 


THE FRENCH AND INDIAN WAR 


187 



delegates to a convention to make plans for protection 

in case of war. The convention was held at 

1754 

Albany, probably because of its nearness to the 
Iroquois, whose friendship it was so necessary to keep. 

The convention at Albany. — William Johnson was one 
of the delegates from New York. He explained to the con¬ 
vention his views as to 
the best methods of pre¬ 
venting the French from 
gaining any influence 
over the Iroquois; and 
so wise and judicious 
were his plans that Ben¬ 
jamin Franklin publicly 
thanked him for his 
speech and asked that 
a copy of it should be 
sent to each of the thir¬ 
teen colonial govern¬ 
ments. The war for 
the possession of the 
Ohio Valley and the 
Northwest was already 
beginning ; and the 

T t /. "Beniamin Franklin thanked him for 

Iroquois remained laith- his speech » 

ful to the English. 

Johnson a major general. — Early in the following year, 
Johnson was invited to go to Alexandria in Virginia to 
confer with General Braddock, who was about to march 



188 


SIR WILLIAM JOHNSON 


against the French and Indians on the Ohio. Braddock 
was a self-conceited man. He did not ask for advice about 
the manner of carrying on the war; he would not listen to 
any mans opinion. But he appointed William Johnson to 
the command of an expedition against the French on the 
New York frontier, and gave him the rank of major 
general in the king’s army. 

Braddock’s defeat. — A few weeks after returning to the 
north, General Johnson learned that Braddock’s grand army 
of British regulars had met some French and Indians 
near the forks of the Ohio, that a terrible battle had 
taken place, that Braddock had been killed, and that his 
forces had been defeated and driven back to Virginia. This 
was discouraging news, but it was for General Johnson to 
redeem the English cause and turn the tide of war. 

Lake George. — With a body of armed men from New 
York and New England he hastened to meet a French force 
that was threatening the colony by way of Lake Champlain. 
He pushed through the dense woods about the headwaters 
of the Hudson, and late in August pitched his camp on 
the south shore of a magnificent body of water which 
the French had named Lac Saint Sacrament. As Gen¬ 
eral Johnson stood admiring the beauty of the lake he 
declared that it should be rechristened. “ It shall be 
named Lake George,” he said, “ not only in honor of his 
Majesty, the king, but to assert his dominion here.” And 
Lake George it has ever since been called. 

A battle with the French. — A few days later the 
colonial forces were attacked by the French army and a 


THE FRENCH AND INDIAN WAR 


189 


desperate battle was fought. The raw soldiers of New 
York and New England, however, proved to be more 
than a match for the French regulars. General John¬ 
son was wounded early in the fight; but the French 
commander was taken prisoner, and his army was utterly 
routed. 

Sir William Johnson. — After this the colonists felt for 
a time as though they were quite secure from the French in 



Lake George 


Canada. The credit for the victory seems really to have 
belonged to General Lyman, who conducted the battle 
after Johnson was wounded. But, for some reason, Gen¬ 
eral Johnson was everywhere praised as the hero who 
had avenged the defeat of Braddock and saved the 
English colonies. The British parliament voted him a 







190 


SIR WILLIAM JOHNSON 


gift equal to twenty-five thousand dollars in our money; 
and two months later he was made a baronet of Great 
Britain and became Sir William Johnson. 

A long war. — It is no part of our purpose to follow 
Sir William Johnson through the long war that was fought 
for the possession of the West. Nor is it necessary to 
name the great men who took part in that war, or to de¬ 
scribe the campaigns, the victories, the defeats, the various 
maneuvers by land and sea. Sir William Johnson’s influ¬ 
ence over the Iroquois was such that no temptations which 
the French might put in their way could make them un¬ 
friendly to the English; and this had very much to do in 
deciding the outcome of the war. 

Quebec and Montreal. — The war had been going on 
for five years when the British under General Wolfe 
attacked Quebec. A desperate battle was fought outside 
of the walls of that city, and the French under General 
Montcalm were defeated. This w T as the deathblow to the 
cause of France in America. A few months later, Sir 
William Johnson was one of the officers to receive the 
surrender of Montreal and with it the whole of Canada. 

Results of the war. — France had lost everything. At 
the treaty of peace that was signed some time afterwards, 
she gave up to Great Britain not only Canada but 
the Great Lakes and all the region between the 
Mississippi River and the Alleghany Mountains. The 
country west of the Mississippi was given to Spain. 
The king of France had no longer any possessions in North 
America. 


THE LORD OF KINGSLAND 


191 


III. THE LORD OF KINGSLAND 



A great landholder. — Sir William Johnson was well 
rewarded for his services in the war. Besides the money 
that had been given him by the British parliament, he 
received a grant of one 
hundred thousand acres 
of land in the Mohawk 
Valley. He soon after¬ 
wards went to live on 
this estate, which was 
long known as Kings- 
land. He induced 
many enterprising men 
to make their homes 
there; he laid out the 
village of Johnstown, 
which he named after 
himself; he built in it 
a courthouse, a church, 
and an inn; he supplied 
the villagers with lum¬ 
ber from his own mill; 
he established a free 
school for the village 
children; and he took a fatherly interest in the welfare 
of every white person or Indian within his reach. 

Johnson Hall. — Not far from the village he built for 
himself a noble mansion which he called “ Johnson Hall.” 


‘He lived in the style of a feudal lord” 





192 


SIR WILLIAM JOHNSON 


There for the rest of his life he lived in the style of a 
feudal lord, surrounded by his tenants and his Indian 
dependants. He took great pride in the management of 
his estate; he experimented with the best grains and the 
finest fruit trees; he was the first in that region to raise 
sheep and fine breeds of cattle and horses. Inspired by 
his example, the white settlers took much pride in rais¬ 
ing good crops and in improving their farms. Even 
many of the Indians left off: their savage ways and became 
excellent farmers. 

To the end of his life Sir William was superintendent 
of the Iroquois and other northern Indians; and it is 
said that his death was caused by a cold, brought on while 
making a speech at an Indian council on a very warm day. 
He died ten months before the beginning of the Revo¬ 
lutionary War, being nearly sixty years of age. 

REVIEW 

Who were the Iroquois Indians and where did they live ? 
What important part did they perform in the history of our coun¬ 
try ? What was the secret of Sir William Johnson’s influence over 
them ? What was the cause of the French and Indian War ? Tell 
about the convention at Albany.. Tell about Braddock’s defeat. 
Why was Sir William Johnson regarded so highly by the British 
government ? What was the result of the French and Indian War ? 


GEORGE WASHINGTON 

AND THE WAR EOR INDEPENDENCE 
I. WHEN WASHINGTON WAS YOUNG 

Childhood and Youth. —George Washington was born 
in Virginia a little more than a year before General Ogle- 
i732 thorpe and his first colonists landed in Georgia. 

Virginia had then been settled about a hundred and 
twenty-five years. It was not only the oldest but the 
richest of the English colonies in America, and it had 
more inhabitants than any other. 

George Washington’s father owned at least three large 
plantations. One of these was on the banks of the Poto¬ 
mac, nearly forty miles above its mouth; another was 
farther up the river, at a place then called Hunting Creek, 
but since known as Mount Vernon; the third was on the 
Rappahannock River, nearly opposite the town of Freder¬ 
icksburg. It was in a quaint old house on the first of 
these plantations that George Washington was born, on 
the 22d of February, 1732. Much of his childhood was 
spent at the Rappahannock home, and there, when George 
was eleven years old, his father died. During his youth 
he lived at Mount Vernon with his elder brother Lawrence,, 
who had inherited nearly all of then- father’s estate. 

BARNES’S EL.—13 193 


194 


GEORGE WASHINGTON 


The boy surveyor. — A wealthy Englishman, whose 
name was Sir Thomas Fairfax, had become the owner of 
more than five million acres of the choicest forest lands in 
Virginia. His vast estate included the whole of the 

beautiful valley of the 
Shenandoah, besides 
much of the country 
about the headwaters 
of the Potomac. He 
was anxious to have a 
portion of his domain 
settled and improved. 
In looking about to 
find some one to ex¬ 
plore his lands along 
the Shenandoah, he 
was attracted to young 
George Washington, 
whom he had met at 
Mount Vernon, and 
whom he knew to be 
both brave and trust¬ 
worthy. Washington 
was at that time only 
sixteen years of age, but he had already learned most 
of the things necessary for a young Virginian to know, 
and he had had some experience as a surveyor. 
When Sir Thomas Fairfax asked him to undertake 
an expedition beyond the Blue Bidge, and offered to 











WHEN WASHINGTON WAS YOUNG 


195 


pay him well for his services, he willingly undertook the 
difficult task. 

Western pioneers.—The results of young Washington’s 
trip into the wilderness were very pleasing to his employer. 
He brought back such glowing accounts of the “ Far 
West ” — which was then no farther than the Shenandoah 
Valley — that Sir Thomas decided to make his own home 
in that region. He therefore became a “ western pioneer ” 
and built himself a fine mansion in the wilderness, not 
far from the present site of Winchester. He invited 
colonists to come and settle on his lands, and soon there 
were many small farms and peaceful homes all up and 
down the valley. The people who came were mostly of a 
sturdy, self-reliant class, who owned few if any slaves ; 
and they had no wish to establish great plantations as 
there were in other parts of Virginia. They did so well 
that still others were persuaded to come; and many per¬ 
sons began to feel interested in western lands. 

The Ohio Country. — About this time wonderful stories 
were being told in Virginia about a fertile region still 
farther west. This region was beyond the last ridge of 
the Alleghanies, and was called the “ Ohio Country,” from 
the name of the noble river by which it was watered. 
It was claimed by the French, because they had discovered 
and partly explored it; but Virginia had also a claim 
upon it, because it was included in the charter which 
King James I. had given to the colony a hundred and 
forty years before. A few hunters and traders, who had 
ventured by stealth into that country, had returned with 


196 


GEORGE WASHINGTON 


the most glowing accounts of its beauty and fertility. 
Many people were now beginning to look westward and 
to feel that Virginia should do something to rescue that 
fair region from French control. 

The Ohio Company. —Finally some Virginian plant¬ 
ers and English gentlemen formed a company to explore 
the Ohio Country and to establish forts and settlements 
there. This company was called the Ohio Company. 
Lawrence Washington was one of its managers. King 
George II. granted to these gentlemen a large tract of 
land to be chosen in any part of the Ohio Valley that 
seemed to them the most desirable. They were required 
to build a fort and to settle a hundred families of colonists 
near it. If they failed to do this within seven years, the 
land should be given back to the king. 

II. THE FRENCH AND INDIAN WAR 

A young major.—No one doubted that the French 
would object to the settlement of an English colony upon 
lands which France claimed as her own. Governor Din- 
widdie of Virginia was therefore urged to keep the colonial 
militia always ready for any trouble that might occur; 
and Lawrence Washington induced him to appoint his 
brother George to the post of adjutant, with title of major. 
Major Washington was only nineteen years old at the 
time of his appointment; but he soon became known as 
one of the most promising soldiers in the colony. 

The French begin to build forts. — Before the Ohio 
Company had done more than send out an explorer to find 


THE FRENCH AND INDIAN WAR 


197 


a good place for their colony, word was brought that the 
French had begun to build a line of forts along the Ohio 
River. The object of these forts was to prevent the Eng¬ 
lish from getting into the country. Governor Dinwiddie 
therefore decided to send a message to the French com¬ 
mander warning him not to trespass upon lands belonging 
to Virginia. He chose Major George Washington to carry 
that message. 

A perilous journey. — With three white hunters, two 
Indians, and a guide, young Washington set out on a 
perilous journey through the mountainous country about 
the headwaters of the Ohio. Far up the Allegheny River, 
at a place called Venango, he found the first outpost of the 
French. There he met some of the French officers, who 
told him that they intended to hold the Ohio Valley in 
spite of all that the English might do. 

The message delivered. — At Fort le Boeuf, several 
miles farther, the French commandant welcomed Wash¬ 
ington with much show 
of kindness. He read 
the message from Gov¬ 
ernor Dinwiddie, and 
two days later gave his 
answer. He said that 
he would forward the 
message to his supe¬ 
rior, the governor of 
Canada; but as for the Ohio Valley, he had been instructed 
to keep the English out of it, and he expected to do so. 



Fort le Boeuf 


198 


GEORGE WASHINGTON 


A safe return. — Three weeks later, Washington was 
back in Virginia. He gave a full account of what he 
had seen on his journey, and repeated what the French 
officers had said. His story convinced Governor Dinwid- 
die that the only way to gain possession of the western 
lands was to fight for them. 

Washington promoted. — The governor was not long in 
making up his mind. To reward young Washington for his 
gallant services he promoted him to the office of lieuten¬ 
ant colonel; and preparations were at once begun for the 
struggle which everybody knew was sure to come. 

Fort Necessity. —Colonel Washington, with a hundred 
and fifty men, marched over the mountains to establish 
an English post on the Ohio. In June they arrived at a 
place called Great Meadows, a few miles from the Monon- 
gahela River. Washington’s first act was to throw up some 
breastworks, which he afterwards called Fort Necessity. 
His second was to surprise a party of thirty-two French¬ 
men, of whom ten were killed and all the rest, except 
one, made prisoners. Before he could complete his fort he 
was attacked by a strong force of French and Indians, 
and after an all-day fight compelled to surrender. 

War. — This was on the 4th of July, 1754. It was the 
beginning of the long and bloody struggle known in history 
as the French and Indian War. Washington, with the 
remnant of his army, was permitted to return to Virginia. 
The French retired to the forks of the Ohio, where Pitts¬ 
burg now stands, and there intrenched themselves in a 
stout little fortification which they called Fort Duquesne. 


THE FRENCH AND INDIAN WAR 


199 


Braddock. — Early in the following year General Brad- 
dock arrived from England at the head of a fine British 
army. The general boasted that nothing would be 
easier than to drive the French out of America 
and utterly subdue their Indian allies. Through the 
influence of Governor Dinwiddieand others he gave Wash¬ 
ington a place on his staff as aid-de-camp ; but he had little 
faith in the Virginia soldiers, and was too proud and self- 
willed to listen to advice from any one. 

The march of the regulars. — The British regulars in 
their fine red uniforms made a grand appearance as the 
army marched over the wooded slopes of the Alleghanies. 
The colonial troops who followed them, dressed in plain 
homespun, seemed very commonplace and useless when 
compared with them. The army moved very slowly, 
and in July arrived at a spot within seven miles of Fort 
Duquesne. There, while passing through a wooded ravine, 
it was attacked by unseen foes. 

The battle. —The woods rang with the cries of savage 
men. The red-coated soldiers knew not where to fire, or 
how to protect themselves. They huddled together like 
sheep and were shot mercilessly down. General Braddock, 
while trying to rally them, was himself mortally wounded. 
The Virginia militiamen took to the trees and fought the 
Indians after their own method. Colonel Washington 
rode hither and thither, trying his best to save the day. 
Four bullets passed through his coat; two horses were 
shot under him; yet he came out of the dreadful fray 
unhurt. 


200 


GEORGE WASHINGTON 


The retreat. — At last the order was given to retreat. 
The retreat soon became a wild flight, and, had it not 
been for Washington’s cool courage, it would have ended 
in a panic. Four days after the battle, General Braddock 
died; and the remnant of the army hurried back to the 
eastern settlements. 

Progress of the war. — The people of Virginia were 
fearful lest the French and Indians should follow up their 
victory and overrun the settlements beyond the Blue 
Ridge. A regiment of a thousand men was hastily raised 
to aid the soldiers already in the field; and George Wash¬ 
ington was made commander of all the forces of the colony 
and intrusted with its defense. 

The war, however, scarcely touched the borders of Vir¬ 
ginia. Most of the fighting was done in the north — in 
New York and in Canada; and Washington and his Vir¬ 
ginians saw but little active service. In our account of 
Sir William Johnson we have already learned how the 
great struggle ended, and how the French were at length 
driven from the possessions which they had claimed. 

III. THE TYRANNY OF ENGLAND 

Washington at Mount Vernon. —Several months before 

the end of the war, Washington resigned his commission and 
retired to Mount Vernon. His brother Lawrence had died 
some time before, and now the fine estate was his own. 

Not long after this he was married to Mrs. Martha 
Custis, a handsome widow, who also was the owner of large 
estates. Washington was now one of the richest men in 


THE TYRANNY OF ENGLAND 


201 



George and Martha Washington 


Virginia. He was elected member 
of the House of Burgesses, and 
thus became one of the lawmakers for the colony. For 
many years he lived the quiet life of a country gentle¬ 
man, overseeing the work on his plantations, hunting 
foxes with his sport-loving neighbors, and going down 
to Williamsburg every winter to help make the laws in 
the House of Burgesses. 

The colonies oppressed. — In the meanwhile the 
colonists from New Hampshire to Georgia were becoming 
every day more and more dissatisfied with the way in 




202 


GEORGE WASHINGTON 



which they were ruled by the English king and Parlia¬ 
ment. They were forbidden to trade with any country 
but England; to build factories for the making of cloth 


“A shipload of tea was thrown into the harbor” 

or other-goods; to manufacture tools and machinery from 
their own iron. They were taxed without their consent. 
Parliament had passed the Stamp Act, and put a tax on 
tea and other articles which the colonists could get only 
from England. 

The Boston Tea Party. — At Boston a shipload of tea 
was thrown into the harbor by the excited colonists, who 
declared that, rather than pay the tax, they would have 




THE TYRANNY OF ENGLAND 


208 



no tea in the country. Then the king, to punish them, 
ordered that no ship should be permitted to enter or leave 
the harbor; and to enforce this order he sent over a body 
of English soldiers to be fed and lodged in the people’s 
houses. 

A convention called. — The colonists revered the king, 
but they were not willing to have all their liberties taken 
away. They said that Parliament had no right to tax 
them without their consent. Finally it was agreed that 
each colony should send delegates to a convention to be 


Carpenter’s Hall in Philadelphia 

held in Philadelphia, to decide upon the wisest course to 
pursue. George Washington was one of the delegates 
from Virginia. He had already spoken his opinions in 








204 


GEORGE WASHINGTON 


the House of Burgesses. “If necessary/’ he said, “I 
will raise a thousand men, subsist them at my own 
expense, and march them to the relief of Boston.” 

The First Continental Congress. — The delegates met at 
Carpenter’s Hall in Philadelphia, and organized what has 
since been known as the First Continental Congress of 
America. They were in session fifty-one days, dis¬ 
cussing the means by which the colonists might 
preserve their liberties. At last it was decided to send 
an address to the king to remind him of the rights of 
the people, and to petition him to do away with the laws 
that were so oppressive to the colonies. 

When Washington returned to Mount Vernon, he knew, 
as well as any man could know, that serious work would 
soon be required of every patriot in the land. 

IV. THE REVOLUTIONARY WAR 

The first battle. — Matters grew worse at Boston. 
The soldiers who were quartered there grew more and 
more abusive. The colonists were becoming desperate. 
“ These people ought to have their houses knocked about 
their ears and destroyed,” said one of the king’s officers. 

Then on the 19th of April, several hundred soldiers 
were sent to Concord, a few miles from Boston, to seize 
m6 some powder that was stored there. As they were 
passing through Lexington on their way, they met a 
company of colonists and there was a sharp and bloody 
fight. This fight, which is called the battle of Lexington, 
was the beginning of the Revolutionary War. 


THE REVOLUTIONARY WAR 


205 


The Second Continental Congress. — Washington was 
again on his way to Philadelphia, where another conven¬ 
tion of delegates was to meet. Three weeks after the 
fight at Lexington, the Second Continental Congress began 
its work. The delegates were ready now to do some¬ 
thing more than petition. Brave men were flocking 
toward Boston to help its people defend themselves from 
the king’s soldiers. War was actually going on, and the 
Congress mnst provide for it. 

Commander in chief of the colonial army. — On the 
15th of June, on motion of John Adams of Massachusetts, 
George Washington was chosen to be commander in chief 
of the colonial army. He at once entered upon the 
work that had been intrusted to him. He entered upon 
it, not for profit nor for honor, but because he believed 
that he ought thus to serve his country and his fellow-men. 

At Boston. — Two weeks after his appointment he rode 
into Cambridge, near Boston, and took formal command 
of the army. It was but a small force, poorly clothed and 
poorly armed; but every man had the love of country in 
his heart. And so well did Washington manage affairs, 
and so hard did he press the king’s soldiers in Boston, that 
before the beginning of another summer they were glad to 
sail away from the town which they had so long oppressed. 

The Declaration of Independence. — On the 4th of the 
following July the Congress adopted the Declaration of 
Independence. The colonies were now no longer 
1776 colonies, but states; and, as they were joined 
together to defend their liberties, they were called United 


206 


GEORGE WASHINGTON 


States. Washington and his army, instead of fighting 
merely to do away with oppressive laws, were now to fight 
for the independence of the country. 

Progress and end of the war. — We cannot here de¬ 
scribe the marches and retreats, the victories and defeats, 
the sufferings and triumphs, of the patriot army during the 
long contest that followed. The struggle was ended in 
October, 1781, when the English general, Cornwallis, at 
York town, Virginia, surrendered his army to Washington. 
Nearly two years more passed by, and then a treaty of 
peace was signed, and England acknowledged the inde¬ 
pendence of our country. 

Washington resigns his commission. — As soon as peace 
was assured, Washington resigned his coinmission as com¬ 
mander in chief. Some men suggested that he should 
make himself king of the United States; but the great 
man would not listen to them. “ If you have any regard 
for your country or respect for me,” he said, “ banish those 
thoughts and never again speak of them.” 

V. BUILDING THE NATION 

Thirteen nations.—At the close of the Revolutionary 
War people did not think of the United States as one un¬ 
divided nation. They thought of the states as thirteen 
little nations, each making its own laws and having its 
own selfish little aims. They were united only so far as 
was necessary for common defense. There was no presi¬ 
dent to stand at the head of the government. The Con¬ 
gress might make laws, but it could not enforce them. 


BUILDING THE NATION 


207 



It might declare war, but it could not raise an army. It 
might contract debts, but it had no way of paying them. 

Wise men soon saw that such a government could not 
continue long. They saw, too, that without a strong gov¬ 
ernment the states would be in no better condition than 
when they were subject to the king. 


Room where the Constitutional Convention met 

The Constitutional Convention. — Four years after the 
treaty of peace, therefore, another convention met in 
Philadelphia to decide what must be done to save the 
country from ruin. Delegates from twelve of the states 
were present. George Washington was the president of 





















208 


GEORGE WASHINGTON 


the convention, and no man’s words had greater weight 
than his. “Let us raise,” he said, “a standard to which 
the wise and honest may repair. The result is in the 
hand of God.” 

This convention did a most wonderful work. It devised 
a plan of government called the Constitution, in accord¬ 
ance with which our country has since been governed. 

Our first President. — The new constitution made it 
necessary for the people to choose electors to elect a Presi¬ 
dent who should be the chief 
ruler, or executive officer, 
of the country. An elec¬ 
tion was held, and when 
the electoral votes were 
counted, it was found that 
every one had been cast 
for George Washington. 

On the 30th of April, 
1789, he was inaugurated 
at Federal Hall in New 
York. During the first 
year New York was the 
capital of the United States, 
and then the seat of gov 
ernment was removed to Philadelphia. Arrangements 
were made, however, that in the year 1800 it should be 
established permanently at the place, by the Potomac 
River, which Washington himself should select. This 
place is now known as the city of Washington, 





BUILDING THE NATION 


209 


Washington landing at New York just before his inauguration 



Elected for a second term. — The duties which Wash¬ 
ington was called upon to perform as President of the 
United States were both difficult and perplexing. He was 
to bring order out of disorder; he was to put a new gov¬ 
ernment into operation. But so well did he perform his 
great task, and so well did he meet the expectations of 
the people, that at the end of four years he was unani¬ 
mously elected to serve a second term. 

We cannot so much as mention all the difficult 
problems which he was required to solve. There were 
troubles enough both at home and abroad, — troubles with 
the Indians, with England, with France, with jealous poli- 
BAMES’S EL, —14 










210 


GEORGE WASHINGTON 


ticians, with dishonest officials, — but in the midst of 
them all, Washington stood steadfast, wise, serene, con¬ 
scious that the right would prevail. 

His Farewell Address.—People began to talk of elect¬ 
ing him for a third term. They could not think of any 
other man so able to govern the nation as he. But 
he declared that he had served the country long enough. 
There were others, he said, who would manage its affairs 
both wisely and well. And so, when about to retire to 
private life, he published a Farewell Address which is 
so full of patriotic wisdom that every American can 
still study it with profit. “ Beware of attacks upon the 
Constitution. Beware of those who love their party 
better than their country. Promote education. Observe 
justice. Treat with good faith all nations. Be united 
— keep united.” These, in effect, are some of the things 
that he said. 

John Adams. — The new President was John Adams 
of Massachusetts. He was one of the stanchest of patriots. 
He had been one of the prime movers in bringing on 
and supporting the Revolutionary War. He was one of 
the makers of the Declaration of Independence. He had 
been Vice President of the United States during the eight 
years of Washington’s administration. 

Trouble with France. — Scarcely had Washington re¬ 
tired to enjoy the quiet of private life at Mount Vernon 
when a new trouble arose. France was at war with Great 
Britain, and her rulers wished that the United States 
should help her. When they failed to bring this about by 


BUILDING THE NATION 


211 



persuasion, they tried other means. Our officers were 
abused, our government was insulted. Congress and Presi¬ 
dent Adams at once took steps to defend the honor of 
the nation. Preparations were made for war, and Wash¬ 
ington was called from his retirement to be again the 
commander in chief of the American army. 


Washington’s room at Mount Vernon. 

Peace prevails. — Fortunately, however, the war did 
not come. When the French saw that the people of the 
United States were ready to fight for the honor of their 
country, as they had already fought for its liberty, their 
manner changed. They ceased their abuse, and all ill- 
feeling was forgotten. The American army was dis¬ 
banded; and Washington again went back to his home 
at Mount Vernon. 














212 


GEORGE WASHINGTON 


Washington’s work was done-A few months later, on 

the 14th of December, 1799, he died from the effects of 
a cold. He had lived not quite sixty-eight years. No 
other American has been so generally admired and 
esteemed. “ First in war, first in peace, and first in 
the hearts of his fellow-citizens,” he will always be 
regarded as the greatest man that our country has 
produced. 

REVIEW 

Where and when was George Washington born ? Why was 
Virginia then the most important of the colonies ? How was trade 
carried on with England ? What nation claimed all the country west 
of the Alleghanies ? What did the men of Virginia think of this 
claim ? For what purpose did the Ohio Company wish to make a 
settlement on the Ohio River ? Why was Washington sent on his 
perilous journey to Fort le Boeuf? Why was Braddock with his 
army sent across the Alleghanies ? Of what war was this the be¬ 
ginning? What were the causes of this war? Why were the 
colonists dissatisfied with the English king and Parliament ? When 
did the First Continental Congress meet, and what did it do? W T hen 
and where was the first battle of the Revolution fought ? When did 
the Second Continental Congress meet, and what did it do? When 
was the Declaration of Independence made? How long did the 
Revolutionary War continue? Where and when was the last battle 
fought? What services did Washington perform during the war? 
What kind of government did the United States have at the close of 
the war? When was the Constitution of the United States adopted ? 
What was the object of the Constitution? When was Washington 
inaugurated first President of the United States ? What were some 
of the difficult things he had to do ? Why would he not be elected 
for the third time? What advice did he give in his Farewell 
Address? 


DANIEL BOONE 

AND THE SETTLEMENT OF KENTUCKY 


I. THE YOUNG HUNTER 


In Pennsylvania. — Daniel Boone was born in Pennsyl¬ 
vania a few miles north of Philadelphia. In front of his 



father’s log cabin flowed 
the Delaware River; be¬ 
hind it were the w T ild 
woods, stretching so far to the west and the north that no 
man could tell where they ended. Daniel took but little 
interest in the river, but he loved the forest. As soon as 
he was strong enough to hold a rifle he learned to shoot. 
His eye was so keen and his hand was so steady that he 

213 


“He loved the forest” 











214 


DANIEL BOONE 


never failed to hit the mark. Before he was ten years old 
he was a famous hunter. He would shoulder his gun and 
go out alone, far into the tangled woods, in search of 
game. He never lost his way, and was never afraid of 
anything. None of the older hunters were so successful 
as he, and he kept the family table well supplied with 
venison. Now and then he would bring down a bear or 
even a panther; and while he was pleased with his success 
he never boasted of his skill. The forest seemed to be 
his natural home, and there he spent the greater part of 
his time. 

In North Carolina. —When Daniel was about fourteen 
years old his father decided to remove to North Carolina. 
It was a long, hard journey of seven hundred miles, and 
the family traveled all the way on horseback and on foot; 
for there were no roads then. The new home was on the 
banks of the Yadkin River, in the very heart of the forest. 
It was just the place for a hunter. A little log cabin 
was built, some small fields were cleared, and the family 
settled down to a happy and contented life. 

Marriage. — Six or seven years passed. Other families 
came and made their homes on the Yadkin. The woods 
were being cut away, and the hunting was not so good as 
before. Daniel Boone was a tall, strong young man now, 
famous for miles around as the best hunter in that part of 
the country. He thought it was time for him to have 
a home of his own. So he asked a neighbor’s pretty 
daughter to be his wife. She consented, and they were 
married. 


THE COUNTRY BEYOND THE MOUNTAINS 


215 


The backwoods home. — Daniel Boone had nothing but 
his rifle and an ax. But what more could he want? 
He went far into the woods, out of sight and hearing 
of all his neighbors, and there built his own house. He 
built it of unhewn logs and covered it with strips of bark. 
At one end he made a big fireplace of stones and clay. 
Blocks of wood served as chairs; the broad, smooth top of 
another made a serviceable table. A heap of furs would 
make a fine bed. The level ground, well swept, was good 
enough for a floor. No window was needed; and as for 
the door, what could be better than a bearskin hung over 
the opening to keep out the wind and the rain ? 

Life in the forest. — To this humble home Daniel 
Boone took his bride; and I doubt if there was ever a 
much happier home-coming. A pot and skillet, and a 
few pewter dishes, made the furnishing of the house com¬ 
plete. As for food, there was no reason to be anxious 
about that. Daniel’s rifle was sure to secure plenty of 
game for meat. Corn meal was easily obtained for bread; 
the brook furnished water to drink. King and queen 
never lived happier than young Mr. and Mrs. Boone. 

II. THE COUNTRY BEYOND THE MOUNTAINS 

The western country.—It was not long, however, 
until many new settlers came into the neighborhood. 
Game was no longer plentiful. Then Boone began to 
grow restless. From the door of his cabin he could 
see, far to the west, the dim, blue outlines of mountains 
rising like a wall to conceal some new, unknown world. 


216 


DANIEL BOONE 


They were the Blue Ridge Mountains, and beyond them 
were other ranges of unknown number and extent. 
Among the settlers on the Yadkin there was, no doubt, 
much talk about these mountains, but most that was said 
was mere guesswork. Very few white men had ever 
crossed them, and people had strange ideas about the 
region on the other side of them. As Daniel Boone 
gazed at them from his cabin door he wondered whether 
good hunting grounds were not there. 

Kentucky. — One day a hunter came to his cabin and 
told him a tale which made him more restless than ever. 
This hunter had just returned from a trip on the other 
side of the distant western mountains. He said that the 
country was the most beautiful in the world, and that it 
was full of game of all sorts. No Indians lived there; 
but it was the common hunting ground of many tribes. 
They called it Kentucky, or “the dark and bloody 
ground,” because of the many fierce battles that had 
been fought there by rival bands of Indian hunters. 

The hunters. — Daniel Boone made up his mind to go 
at once to this new-found region beyond the mountains. 
Six other hunters agreed to go with him. It was on the 
first day of May, 1769, that he bade his wife and children 
good-by and started on his long and perilous journey. Five 
weeks later he stood with his companions, on a summit of 
the Cumberland Mountains, and viewed for the first time 
the beautiful region now known as Kentucky. All that 
had been told him of its forests and streams and wild 
game was true. The hunters built a log camp near the 


THE COUNTRY BEYOND THE MOUNTAINS 


217 


banks of the Red River of Kentucky, and there they 
remained for seven months, making long excursions into 
the forest and living an easy, half-savage life. Early in 
the winter Boone and one of his companions were sur¬ 
prised and made prisoners by a band of strolling Indians. 



“He stood on a summit of the Cumberland Mountains” 


At the end of a week they escaped; but when they re¬ 
turned to their camp they found it in ruins. The other 
five men were never again heard of, and there is little 
doubt that they perished at the hands of the Indians. 

When Boone returned to his home on the Yadkin he 
gave a glowing account of the new country of Kentucky, 
of its beautiful scenery, its rivers and mountains, its 
fertile soil, and its abundant game. The story was told 
from house to house and was soon known in many parts 
of Carolina and Virginia; and many people became eager 
to emigrate to the rich, wild region beyond the mountains. 







218 


DANIEL BOONE 


III. KENTUCKY 

Boonesboro.—Boone soon went back to the West. 
He built a strong fort of logs on the left bank of the 

Kentucky River 
and named the 
place Boonesboro. 
Thither he con¬ 
ducted his wife and 
family and about 
thirty of his neigh¬ 
bors who were anx¬ 
ious to try their 
fortunes in the new 
country. Thus the 
foundations were 
laid for the noble commonwealth of Kentucky. 

Captured by Indians. — There was constant danger 
from prowling bands of Indians who did not like this 
intrusion of white men upon their hunting grounds. 
Daniel Boone had many adventures among them, and 
many narrow escapes. At one time he was captured by 
a large band and taken to the Indian town of Old Chilli- 
cothe, nearly two hundred miles north of Boonesboro. 

The Indians liked him so well that they adopted him 
into their tribe. They permitted him to do very much 
as he pleased, but kept a close watch over him to pre¬ 
vent his escape. He pretended to be pleased with their 
company. He joined them in their sports, and went 



“He built a strong fort of logs” 


KENTUCKY 


219 


hunting with them, and was almost as much of an In¬ 
dian as any of them. 

The escape. — Thus several months were passed in cap¬ 
tivity. One day he learned that the Indians were plan¬ 
ning to send a war party into Kentucky to capture and 
destroy Boonesboro. That night while the Indians were 
sleeping he stole away from the town and made his 
way homeward through the woods. He traveled one 
hundred and sixty miles in four days, and at last arrived 
safe at home. His friends had all given him up as dead, 



“At one time he was captured” 


and his wife not hoping to see him again had returned 
with his children to her father’s house on the Yadkin. 
The Indians soon attacked the fort; but Boone and his 
men resisted them bravely and drove them away. 







220 


DANIEL BOONE 


The settlement of Kentucky. — Soon after this, Boone 
went back to North Carolina to be with his family ; but 
before long he brought them again to Boonesboro, where 
they remained several years. The Indians were still very 
troublesome, and life in the backwoods was full of peril. 
But in spite of all this, numbers of people from Virginia 
and the Carolinas pushed their way over the mountains 
and began making themselves new homes in Kentucky. 
Little settlements sprang up here and there, and pioneers 
built their cabins and hewed out little clearings in many 
lone places in the heart of the woods. 

Boone goes farther west. — In 1792 Kentucky became 
a state. It was no longer a great hunting ground. Much 
of the woods had been cut down, the game had been 
killed or driven away, it was no place for a hunter like 
Daniel Boone. When he was sixty years old he left 
the state for which he had done so much and removed 
to Missouri, which was still a wild, unsettled country. 
There he lived, hale and hearty, until he was a very 
old man. His passion for hunting clung to him to the 
end of his life, and his chief enjoyment was in roam¬ 
ing through the woods with his rifle on his shoulder. 

REVIEW 

Which of the colonies claimed the country on both sides of the 
Ohio ? Why did this region remain so long unknown ? Why did 
Kentucky seem so attractive to Daniel Boone ? Why is he sometimes 
called the founder of Kentucky ? 


GEORGE ROGERS CLARK 
AND THE CONQUEST OE THE NORTHWEST 

I. THE PRIME RIFLEMEN OF KENTUCKY 


Kentucky a part of Virginia. — Virginia claimed that 
Kentucky was a part of her own territory. . It was 
included in the grant which the king of England had 



made to that colony far back in the time of John Smith 
and the early days at Jamestown. When the Revolution¬ 
ary War began, the backwoodsmen of Kentucky remained 
loyal to Virginia. They joined hands with their brothers 










222 


GEORGE ROGERS CLARK 


along the distant Potomac and by the James River, and 
all united in declaring themselves independent of England. 

As the war went on, however, it was found that Vir¬ 
ginia had enough to do to guard her own shores and send 
her share of troops to serve in the patriot army of Wash¬ 
ington. She could spare neither men nor money for the 
protection of her western lands. If danger should threaten 
her colony of Kentucky she could give it but little aid. 

Indians and British. — The British were not long in 
finding this out. General Hamilton, the British com¬ 
mander at Detroit, formed a plan to harass and destroy 
the settlements in Kentucky, and thus conquer all the 
country west of the Alleghanies. He encouraged the 
Indians to fight for the British, and sent their war 
parties across the Ohio to murder the settlers and to de¬ 
stroy their homes. Bands of these savages would appear 
suddenly before the cabins of the settlers, shoot and scalp 
the men, burn the buildings, and carry the women and 
children into captivity. It seemed for a while as though 
every settlement in Kentucky would be blotted out. 

George Rogers Clark. — Among the friends of Daniel 
Boone there was a young surveyor whose name was George 
Rogers Clark. He had but lately come from Virginia; 
but, as the troubles increased in Kentucky, he soon showed 
himself to be so wise and brave that the pioneers began 
to look up to him as a leader. For protection against 
the Indians they formed themselves into a company of 
militiamen called “ the prime riflemen of Kentucky,” and 
elected Clark as their captain, 


THE PRIME RIFLEMEN OF KENTUCKY 


223 


The Kentucky riflemen were among the bravest fighters 
in the country, and they knew all about Indian methods of 
warfare. But their store of powder was being rapidly used 
up, and they were but poorly prepared for war. They there¬ 
fore decided to send Captain Clark to Virginia, to tell the 
governor how things stood, and, if possible, obtain some help. 



Bands of these savages would suddenly appear ” 


Patrick Henry was the governor. He listened with 
much attention to Clark’s story of the distress and alarm 
among the border settlements, but he regretted that it 
was impossible to give them any aid — Virginia was 
hard pressed to take care of herself. Captain Clark 
would not be put off; he would not listen to excuses. 











224 


GEORGE ROGERS CLARK 


“ A country that is not worth protecting is not worth 
claiming,” he said. He pleaded his case so well that 
the governor gave him five hundred pounds of powder, 
and promised still further aid when it was needed. 

II. THE CONQUEST OF ILLINOIS 

More trouble. — When Clark returned to Kentucky he 
found that the Indians were more troublesome than ever. 
Band after band crossed the Ohio, being urged on by the 
promise of reward from the British commander. They 
skulked through the forest, and appeared suddenly where 
they were least expected. They killed, they burned, they 
destroyed without mercy. Outside of the strongest forts 
no life was safe. 

Clark’s plan.—George Rogers Clark saw that the 
only way to meet the danger was to strike at its source. 
He therefore decided upon a plan which he thought 
would save not only Kentucky, but also the whole of 
the Northwest for the new state of Virginia. He would 
march into the enemy’s country, and, by capturing the 
British posts there, he would so overawe the Indian tribes 
that they would cease their murderous work. 

His plan approved. — He hurried back to Virginia. 
The governor listened with pleasure to his plans; gave 
him money and a commission as colonel in the army of 
Virginia; and authorized him to raise seven companies’of 
volunteers for the invasion of Illinois. The object of the 
expedition was to be kept secret until the little army was 
well on its way. 


THE CONQUEST OF ILLINOIS 


225 



The march into Illinois. — Colonel Clark was unable 

to raise so many companies; but he was soon at the head 
of a force of nearly two hundred backwoodsmen who were 
ready to follow him upon any enterprise, no matter how 
difficult or dangerous. The little army floated down the 
Ohio from Pittsburg to a point nearly opposite the mouth 
of the Tennessee River. 


Then it marched on foot 
through an uninhabited 
country, for a hundred 
and thirty miles, to the 
town of Kaskaskia near 
the Mississippi. 

Kaskaskia was one 
of the oldest and most 
important of the French 
settlements in the West. 

Its inhabitants were 
still French, although 
it was the chief post 
of the British in the 
Illinois country. No 
one had supposed that 

it WOllld ever be at- “Go on with your fun” 

tacked by the Ameri¬ 
cans, and hence it was protected by only a handful of 
men under a French officer in the service of the British. 

The French settlements captured. — It was night when 
Colonel Clark and his men reached the village. No 

barnes’s el. — 15 




226 


GEORGE ROGERS CLARK 


sentinel was on guard, and Clark made his way to the 
fort. As he pushed open the door he saw the soldiers 
and their friends engaged in a dance. The alarm was 
given by an Indian who was lying on the floor, but Clark 
coolly stepped into the room and said : u Go on with your 
fun. But remember that you are now dancing under the 
flag of Virginia instead of that of England.” The garrison 
surrendered at once. 

The French people received the backwoods riflemen 
with delight. It was an easy matter after the fall of 
Kaskaskia to take possession of the other French settle¬ 
ments in Illinois, none of which was far distant. Two 
men were also sent to Vincennes on the Wabash to receive 
the surrender of that place. 

Vincennes. — When General Hamilton at Detroit heard 
of the manner in which Colonel Clark had invaded the 
Illinois country, he at once prepared to march out and 
recover what had been lost. At the head of several hun¬ 
dred British soldiers, Frenchmen, and Indians, he de¬ 
scended the Wabash River and retook Vincennes, finding 
in the fort there only the two soldiers who had taken 
possession of it for Colonel Clark. As it was then the 
beginning of winter he decided to remain in Vincennes 
until spring. He expected to strengthen the place, and 
when the weather grew milder march against the Vir¬ 
ginians at Kaskaskia. 

Hamilton surrenders. — But Colonel Clark was not the 
man to wait to be attacked. As soon as he heard that 
Hamilton was so near, he began to make ready to meet 



THE CONQUEST OF ILLINOIS 227 

him. While it was still midwinter he led his little army 
over the flooded and half-frozen prairies of Illinois, crossed 
the Wabash, and before his presence w r as suspected, made 
a determined attack upon the British in their fort at Vin¬ 
cennes. General Hamilton had felt so secure in his winter 
quarters that he had permitted most of his soldiers and his 


Indian allies to return to Detroit. He was unprepared 
for a siege; and he was so completely surprised by the 
attack, that he surrendered without making more than 
the faintest show of resistance. 

The county of Illinois.—All the country north of 
the Ohio was now in possession of the Virginians. The 
legislature of Virginia organized it into the county of 


“Colonel Clark was not the man to wait” 







228 


GEORGE ROGERS CLARK 


Illinois, with Kaskaskia as its capital, and appointed a 
governor to have control of its public affairs. 

The Indians hastened to make treaties of peace, and 
no more savage raids were made into the settlements be¬ 
yond the Ohio. George Rogers Clark had not only 
saved Kentucky, but he had conquered the whole of the 
Northwest for the United States. Had it not been for 
his courage and good management the Ohio River might 
have remained the southern boundary line of Canada, and 
England might to this day have kept possession of the 
Great Lakes and all the rich country adjoining them. 

REVIEW 

Why did Virginia claim Kentucky as a part of her territory ? 
Why could she not help the settlers there during the Revolution ? 
Why did the British wish to destroy the settlements ? Why did 
Captain Clark wish to capture the British posts in Illinois and on 
the Wabash ? If he had not succeeded, what might have been the 
result ? 


THOMAS JEFFERSON 
AND THE FOUNDING OF THE GOVERNMENT 

I. “TREASON!” 

Two young patriots. — You have already read about 
the Stamp Act and the tax on tea, which caused so much 
commotion in the colonies. At the time when all the 
country was stirred up by these things there were two 
young men at Williamsburg, Virginia, who were fearless 
in their defiance of the king. One of these was Thomas 
Jefferson, a student at the College of William and Mary 
— a tall, slender youth with sandy hair and hazel eyes, 
and a powerful mind. The other was Patrick Henry, a 
lawyer, who was a great orator and could make fine 
speeches, although he knew but little law. He was sev¬ 
eral years older than Jefferson, and at that time was a 
member of the House of Burgesses. 

A famous speech.—As Jefferson stood at the door 
of the capitol at Williamsburg one morning, he heard 
Henry deliver the most daring speech that had yet been 
made upon the tyrannical acts of the king and his par¬ 
liament. The orator was speaking to the rich burgesses 
of Virginia, and he held his audience spellbound while he 
told of the injustice of taxing a people without their 
consent. Then, as he brought his speech to a close, 

229 


230 


THOMAS JEFFERSON 



he reached the climax: “ Caesar had his Brutus, Charles 
the First had his Cromwell, and George the Third — ” and 
here he was interrupted by cries of “ Treason ! treason ! ” 
from the listening burgesses. The speaker waited a mo¬ 
ment for silence, and then finished his sentence — “ George 
the Third may profit by their example.” 


“ Treason! treason! ” 

We may imagine what influence such speeches must 
have had upon the mind of the young student, Jefferson. 
In truth, however, no speeches were needed to arouse his 
patriotic zeal. All through the troubles which led up to the 
Revolutionary War he was among the foremost in defend¬ 
ing the American colonists. 









HOW THE COLONIES BECAME STATES 


281 


Jefferson in the Continental Congress. — When the Sec¬ 
ond Continental Congress met in Philadelphia, Jefferson 
was there as one of the delegates from Virginia. At first 
there were few of the members who ventured to speak in 
favor of making the colonies independent. The aim of 
most was to induce the king and Parliament to change 
the laws so as to give to the people their just rights as 
loyal subjects of England. But their “ repeated petitions 
were answered only by repeated injury,” and they at last 
saw that the only thing to be done was to rebel against 
the king’s authority and to refuse to obey his laws. 

II. HOW THE COLONIES BECAME STATES 

The Declaration of Independence. —At length the time 
for action came. Richard Henry Lee, of Virginia, offered 
a resolution asserting that “ these United Colonies 
1776 are, and of right ought to be, free and independent 
states.” This was the first step, and the next was to 
appoint a committee to prepare a declaration of inde¬ 
pendence. Thomas Jefferson was one of the committee, 
and it fell to his lot to write the declaration. In it he 
set forth the reasons which obliged the colonies to rebel. 
It was because of the tyranny of the king, he said. 

What had the king done? — Every act of oppression 
was clearly stated in the Declaration. 

The king had refused to make good laws for the 
colonies. 

He would not permit the colonies to make good laws 
for themselves. 


232 


THOMAS JEFFERSON 



Independence Hall, Philadelphia. — The place where Congress met 


He had kept a standing army in the colonies in times 
of peace, and had obliged the colonists to feed and lodge 
the soldiers. 

He had forbidden the colonies to trade with other parts 
of the world. 

He had taxed them without their consent. 

He had taken away their charters, and was waging 
war against them. 

He had plundered their seas, ravaged their coasts, burnt 
their towns, and destroyed the lives of many people. 

He had incited the Indians to make war upon the 
border settlements. 







OUR COUNTRY INDEPENDENT 


233 


He had refused to listen to the petitions which the 
colonists had humbly presented him. 

The king a tyrant. — Such, in substance, were some of 
the things which Jefferson wrote in the Declaration of 
Independence. The king who is guilty of such acts, he 
added, is a tyrant, and unfit to be the ruler of a free 
people. And then, at the close of the Declaration he 
asserted that the time had come for the setting up of a 
new government — a government founded upon the prim 
ciple that all men are created equal, and have rights which 
no power can justly take away from them. 

The colonies become states. — The Declaration, as I 
have said, was written by Jefferson. It was slightly 
revised by Adams and Franklin, and was reported 
to Congress on the 2d of July. On that day and 
the next, it was carefully examined and discussed. Then, 
on the 4th of July, 1776, it, was agreed to, and was signed 
by John Hancock, the president of the Congress. From 
that moment the thirteen colonies were no longer colonies, 
but independent states. 

III. OUR COUNTRY INDEPENDENT 

Governor of Virginia. — Mr. Jefferson soon withdrew' 
from Congress and returned to Virginia; for he believed 
that one of the best ways to serve his country was to serve 
his native state. For three years he was one of the most 
active members of the Virginia House of Delegates, as the 
House of Burgesses was then called. He proposed many 
wise laws for the new state, and helped the people to 


284 


THOMAS JEFFERSON 


provide means for her defense. In 1779, he was chosen 
governor of Virginia. 

Perilous times. — It was the most trying period in the 
war of the Revolution. British soldiers had invaded Vir¬ 
ginia ; British ships were blockading her harbors; the 
patriots were hard beset on every hand. But Jefferson 
proved to be a wise and able governor. 

In the North, through the skill and perseverance of 
Washington, the tide of war had been turned. Through 
the efforts of Benjamin Franklin, the king of France had 
been induced to help the states in their struggle against 
Great Britain. The Marquis de Lafayette, a young French 
nobleman, had come to America and was one of Washing¬ 
ton’s strongest helpers. 

In the South, the partisan leaders, Marion and Sumter, 
had given the British much trouble and were doing good 
service to the cause of freedom. General Greene, with 
the patriots of the Carolinas, dealt the enemy more than 
one stunning blow. At last Washington marched 
into Virginia and with the help of his French allies 
defeated Cornwallis at Yorktown and forced him to sur¬ 
render the British army. And thus the long war of the 
Revolution was brought to an end. 

IV. MANY PATRIOTIC SERVICES 

The treaty of peace. — Jefferson’s term of office, as gov¬ 
ernor of Virginia, expired in the same year that the war 
was ended. He retired to his country home, Monticello, 
where he busied himself in looking after his plantation, 


MANY PATRIOTIC SERVICES 


235 



nursing his sick wife, and attending to the education 
of his children. But the country needed his services; and 
two years later he was again in Philadelphia as one of 
Virginia’s delegates to the Continental Congress. He 
took his seat there in time to vote in favor of the treaty 
of peace with Great Britain. By that treaty our country 


Monticello 

was assured of the independence claimed in the Declara¬ 
tion which Jefferson had written seven years before 

The Northwest Territory. — The vast region north of 
the Ohio, which George Rogers Clark had rescued from 
the British, was still unsettled. The most of it was 
claimed by Virginia and, as we have seen, was included 
in the new county of Illinois. Many persons thought 
it was not right that this great territory should be con¬ 
trolled by a single state. Thomas Jefferson was of the 





236 


THOMAS JEFFERSON 


same opinion, and Virginia at last decided to give up her 
claims. Her deed of gift of the great Northwest was pre¬ 
sented to Congress by Jefferson himself. 

A wise law. —Jefferson was also one of a committee 
appointed to prepare a plan of government for the North¬ 
west Territory, as it was called. No doubt it was he 
who suggested the wise provisions that were afterwards 
made for the support of public schools in that part of our 
country. By these provisions, one square mile of land in 
every thirty-six was given for the education of the children. 

Minister to France. —But Jefferson did not remain 
long in Congress. Before a year had passed, he was 
appointed United States minister to France. He re¬ 
mained abroad for five years. When he returned, the 
new Constitution had been adopted, and George Washing¬ 
ton was just beginning his first term as President of the 
United States. 

Secretary of State.—Jefferson had hoped to be sent 
back to France, but Washington wished him to become a 
member of his cabinet as Secretary of State. The nation 
was then in its infancy and it was very necessary that the 
wisest men should be at the head of its affairs. Next to 
Jefferson in the President’s cabinet was Alexander Ham¬ 
ilton of New York, who was Secretary of the Treasury. 
Henry Knox of Massachusetts was Secretary of War, and 
Edmund Randolph of Virginia was Attorney-general. 
These four were the only members of the first cabinet. 

Jefferson and Hamilton could never agree upon public 
questions. Jefferson was in favor of intrusting all matters 


AN IMPORTANT PURCHASE 


237 


of government to the people of the states; Hamilton 
wanted a strong central government, and was afraid of 
giving too much power to the people. Two political par¬ 
ties were formed. Of one of these, called the Federal 
party, Hamilton was the leader. Of the other, called 
the Democratic-Republican party, Jefferson was the founder. 
The two men at last became bitter enemies ; and Jefferson, 
after nearly four years of service, was glad to give up his 
place in the cabinet and retire once more to the quiet of 
Monticello. 

But he was still the leader of the Democratic-Repub¬ 
lican party — an organization which was later known, and 
is still known, as the Democratic party. When Wash¬ 
ington refused to be elected for a third term, Jefferson 
allowed himself to become his party’s candidate for the 
presidency. The candidate of the Federal party 
was John Adams of Massachusetts. Adams was 
elected, and Jefferson having received the next highest 
number of votes was chosen Vice President. 

V. AN IMPORTANT PURCHASE 

The third President of the United States. — Four years 
later, Jefferson’s party triumphed and he became the third 
President of the United States. It is said, although the 
story is disputed, that upon the day of his inauguration he 
rode on horseback to the capitol, hitched his horse 
1801 to a post, and walked unattended into the senate 
chamber. He was a citizen of the United States, called to 
direct its public affairs, and he refused all marks of atten- 


238 


THOMAS JEFFERSON 


tion that would not have been paid to him as a private 
person. He had the greatest confidence in the republic. 
“ Some honest men/’ he said, “ fear that a republican 
government is not strong enough. I believe it, on the 
contrary, the strongest on earth.” 



“He rode on horseback to the capitol 


Louisiana. — The United States, as at the close of the 
Revolution, was still bounded on the west by the Mis¬ 
sissippi. The country beyond that river belonged to 
France, having been given up to her by Spain only a short 
time before. It was called Louisiana. Nobody knew its 










AN IMPORTANT PURCHASE 


239 


exact extent. Nobody knew what were its resources, or 
what might be its future value, for only portions of it had 
been explored. But France needed money, and Napoleon 
Bonaparte, who was at the head of French affairs, offered 
to sell the entire region to the United States. 



The purchase of Louisiana. — President Jefferson had 
already sent James Monroe to Paris, with full power to 
do what he believed best. A bargain was soon 
1803 made. For the sum of fifteen million dollars the 
vast territory of Louisiana was given up to the United 
States. Our country’s boundaries were thus extended to 
the Rocky Mountains, and its area was more than doubled. 

Jefferson reelected. — The people were well pleased 
with the way in which Jefferson conducted the affairs of 





240 


THOMAS JEFFERSON 


the government, and when his term was about to expire 
they reelected him by a much larger vote than he had 
received before. 


VI. SHIPS EMBARGOED 

Trouble with England and France. — During Jefferson’s 

second term as President, there was much trouble with 
foreign nations. Great Britain and France were again at 
war, and every effort was made by them to force the United 
States to take sides in the quarrel. British ships over¬ 
hauled American vessels at sea, and even within sight of 
American harbors, under pretense of searching for sailors 
who had deserted from the British navy. American sail¬ 
ors were forcibly taken from their own ships and made to 
serve on British men-of-war. The British government 
forbade our merchants to sell or buy in French ports, 
and our trading vessels were stopped at sea and searched 
for French goods. 

France, on the other hand, was also overbearing and 
unjust. Many American vessels were seized in French 
ports, and French ships were sent out to prevent any trade 
between our country and England. 

The embargo. — It would seem that nothing but war 
could remedy these abuses; but Jefferson adopted another 
plan. “ Our passion,” he said, “ is peace.” Since other 
nations denied to the United States the freedom of the seas, 
he thought that the best way to punish them and secure 
justice was for the United States to abandon the seas. 
He therefore placed an embargo on all our shipping in 


SHIPS EMBARGOED 


241 


American waters—that 
is, no American vessel 
was permitted to leave 
port for foreign lands. 
It was thought that 
Great Britain, rather 
than lose her trade with 
this country, would 
agree to make amends 
for the injuries which 
she had inflicted. 

A great mistake.— 
But the embargo caused 
far greater harm to the 
American people than 
to the English. Busi¬ 
ness came to a stand¬ 
still. Merchants closed 
their doors. Wages 
stopped. The prices of 
all kinds of produce 
went down. Every in¬ 
dustry was threatened 
with ruin. And be- 



‘Sailors were forcibly taken from our ships” 


sides all this, the British were just as abusive as before. 

James Madison becomes President. — The embargo was 
continued until the last day of Jefferson’s second term ; 
but he himself saw that it was a great mistake. In 1809 
he was succeeded by James Madison, his friend and fellow- 

BARNES’S EL. — 16 









242 


THOMAS JEFFERSON 


Virginian. It was then plain to almost every person that 
a war with Great Britain must surely come. 

Jefferson again at Monticello. — Jefferson retired again 
to Monticello. He had served his country almost continu¬ 
ously for more than forty years. During the remainder 
of his life he was busy with plans for the education of 
the young and for the doing of good to mankind. His 
most important work was the founding of the University 
of Virginia. He lived to see the opening of that institu¬ 
tion with bright prospects for its success. 

The end of a useful life. — In the following year, just 
fifty years to the day from the adoption of his Declaration 
of Independence, he died. He was buried in his own 
grounds at Monticello, and on his tombstone was en¬ 
graved the epitaph which he himself had composed: 

“ Here was buried Thomas Jefferson, author of the 

1825 

Declaration of Independence, of the Statute of 
Virginia for Religious Freedom, and Father of the Uni¬ 
versity of Virginia.” 


REVIEW 

What important part did Jefferson take in establishing the inde¬ 
pendence of the colonies ? Of what did the Declaration of Independ¬ 
ence accuse the king of England? Name some of the patriotic 
services of Thomas Jefferson. On what questions did Jefferson and 
Hamilton differ ? What great addition did Jefferson make to the 
territory of the United States? How? What is meant by an 
embargo ? Why did Jefferson place an embargo on the shipping in 
American ports? What was the last important act of Jefferson’s 
life ? 


ELI WHITNEY 

AND THE INVENTION OF THE COTTON GIN 
I. AMBITION AND PERSEVERANCE 

Childhood. — When the Declaration of Independence 
was made, Eli Whitney was about ten years old. His 
home was on a farm 
near the village of 
Westboro in Massa¬ 
chusetts. He did not 
go to school very much 
when a child, neither 
did he have many 
books to read. His 
father wished him to 
be a farmer like him¬ 
self, and did not think 
it necessary for him to 
have an education. 

An inquisitive hoy. 

—But Eli was not satis¬ 
fied with this. He was 
always anxious to learn, 
and he wished to know how everything was made. Once 
when he was a very little lad he took all the wheels out of 
his father’s watch in order to see how they were made and 

243 



An inquisitive boy 




244 


ELI WHITNEY 


how they were put together. His father was at church 
at the time, but when he returned home the watch was 
hanging in its place and ticking away as though no one 
had touched it. The child had put every wheel back just 
where it belonged, and it was not till a long while after¬ 
ward that he told his father what he had done. 

The shop. — Mr. Whitney, like most farmers at that 
time, had a shop of his own where he made little articles 
for the house and mended his wagons and plows and other 
farming implements. The tools in this shop were a source 
of great delight to Eli, and before he was ten years old 
he could handle them as well as any one. He could make 
anything that was needed about the house or farm. 

Making nails. —During the Revolutionary War the 
price of all kinds of iron goods was very high. Even nails 
were scarce and costly. “Why not make nails in our 
shop and sell them ? ” said Eli Whitney. “ It would be a 
more profitable business than hoeing and plowing.” 

His father thought so too, and the boy set up a forge 
and went to work. All nails at that time were made by 
hand; and the ringing of Eli’s hammer on his father’s 
anvil was heard from morning till night. There was a 
good demand for nails; and Eli Whitney’s were of the 
best quality and brought a high price. 

Going to college. — One day, after the Revolutionary 
War was over, he surprised his father by saying that he 
was going to college. Mr. Whitney did not think that 
an education was of much use to a working man, and he 
would have been pleased if his son had been content to be 


AMBITION AND PERSEVERANCE 


245 


a nail-maker all his life. For three years Eli studied hard 
to prepare himself for college, and during all that time he 
kept on working. Then with his small earnings he went 
to New Haven and passed the examinations for entrance 
into Yale. 

Working his way. —It was very hard for him to get 
money enough to carry him through college. But he was 
not ashamed to work. He did little jobs of carpentering 
and mending at odd hours, and during vacation he taught 
a small country school. The professors and students had 
great respect for him, for they saw that he was a young 
man who would make his mark in the world. 

A law student.—He still retained his love for tools 
and machinery, but he did not wish to be a mechanic. 
He therefore decided- to become a lawyer. But how 
should he support himself while studying law ? While he 
was thinking of this question, a letter was received from 
Savannah, Georgia, saying that a teacher was wanted in 
a certain private school in that city. He might have 
the position if he wished it. 

Here then was his opportunity. He would go to 
Savannah, accept the place, study law while teaching, and 
earn money enough to give him a start in his profession. 

Disappointment.^—The journey to Georgia was a very 
long and tiresome one in those days. When Whitney 
finally reached Savannah he met only disappointment. 
The school was not what it had been represented, and 
the salary was not sufficient to pay his board. What 
should he do? 


246 


ELI WHITNEY 


II. THE COTTON GIN 

A friend indeed.—At Mulberry Grove, on the Savan¬ 
nah River, there lived at that time a wealthy and accom¬ 
plished lady whose name was Mrs. Greene. She was the 
widow of General Nathanael Greene, one of the ablest 
and most famous officers in the Revolutionary War. She 
had made the acquaintance of young Whitney on the 
boat which had brought both of them from New York, 
and she was pleased with his intelligence and attractive 
manners. 

“ Come to Mulberry Grove,” she said, “ and study law 
under my roof. You shall be welcome to stay as long as 
you please.” And so to Mulberry Grove he went. 



A cotton field 


Cotton. — At that time there were no great cotton 
plantations in the South as there are now. The climate 
and the soil were just what was needed for the growing 








THE COTTON GIN 


247 


of cotton, and large crops might have been raised. But 
the planters could not make it profitable. When the 
cotton is taken from the plant it contains a great many 
seeds which must be picked out before it can be sent to 



“It would require a great many slaves” 


market. There was no way to do this but by hand. 
A slave with nimble fingers could clean only one pound 
of cotton in a day. It would require a great many slaves 
to prepare a large crop for market. 

“ If some person w r ould only invent a machine for 
picking out the seeds,” said a planter to Mrs. Greene, 
“ cotton would soon become the most profitable thing in 
the South.” 








'248 


ELI WHITNEY 


“ Mr. Whitney, my young friend from Massachusetts, 
will make such a machine/’ said Mrs. Greene. “ He can 
make anything he tries.” 

And so the matter was explained to Mr. Whitney. 
“ Yes, I think I can make such a machine,” he said. 

Making the cotton gin. — Mr. Whitney had never seen 
raw cotton, nor had he seen any cotton seeds. But 
some cotton with the seeds in it was obtained and he 
began to experiment with it. There were many difficul¬ 
ties in his way. He had to make his own tools before he 
could begin work on his machine. Months passed before 
the model for his first machine was completed. No one 
was permitted to see it except Mrs. Greene and the man¬ 
ager of her plantation. But there was much talk about 
it among the neighboring planters; and one night the 
shop was broken into and the model was stolen. 

Defending the patent. — It was necessary, of course, to 
make a new model; but before it could be finished the 
men who had stolen the first were making machines and 
claiming them as their own invention. At length, how¬ 
ever, the work was completed, and Eli Whitney exhibited 
his cotton gin, as it was called, to the planters around 
Savannah. By its use one man could clean more cotton 
in a day than a hundred men could clean by hand, and 
the cleaning was also better done. Everybody saw the 
advantage of such a machine, and the planters all through 
the South began to raise larger crops of cotton. But 
other men came forward with similar machines and 
tried to prove that Mr. Whitney was not the inventor of 


THE COTTON GIN 


249 


the cotton gin. He was obliged to go to law to defend 
himself; and at one time he had no fewer than sixty law¬ 
suits in the courts. Finally, after many vexations and 
misfortunes, he found that he would never receive much 
profit from the gin, 
and he decided to give 
his attention to other 
things. 

At New Haven, Con¬ 
necticut, he built a large 
shop for the manufac¬ 
ture of firearms; and 
in this he was so suc¬ 
cessful that he soon 
acquired a very large fortune. He was the first person 
to make firearms by improved machinery; and his shop 
became the model for all the great arsenals that were 
afterwards built in this country. 

Justice at last. — Eli Whitney died at the age of sixty 
years. But it is pleasant to know that before his death all 
the world was ready to acknowledge his claims as the in¬ 
ventor of the cotton gin; and as long as our country exists 
his name will be honored as that of one of its greatest 
benefactors. 

REVIEW 

Why was not cotton-raising as profitable in the South at the 
close of the Revolution as it is now ? Why did other men wish to 
rob Whitney of his invention? What effect did the invention of 
the cotton gin have upon the wealth of .the South ? Why ? 







ROBERT FULTON 

AND THE INVENTION OF THE STEAMBOAT 
I AN INGENIOUS BOY 

The birth of an idea. — At about the time that young 
Eli Whitney was setting up his forge and getting ready to 
hammer nails on his father’s anvil, two other boys of nearly 
the same age as himself were fishing in the Conestoga River 
in Pennsylvania. They were in a heavy, flat-bottomed 
boat, which they moved from place to place by means of 
a pole. This was done by standing in the stern of the 
boat and pushing on the pole, one end of which was 
thrust to the bottom of the stream. It was hard work 
and slow work, and the boys were sometimes very tired 
with lifting the pole and then pushing it down again. 

“Some time,” said the younger lad, “I intend to 
make a boat that will go faster and easier than this.” 

“ That is just like you, Robert Fulton,” said the other, 
whose name was Christopher. “You are always making 
things, or planning to make them.” 

“ Just wait till I come back from my aunt’s,” answered 
Robert. 

The young machinist. — The next day Robert went on 
a visit to his aunt, while Christopher remained at a farm¬ 
house near the river for a few more days of fishing. 

250 


AN INGENIOUS BOY 


251 


At his aunt’s Robert’s first care was to get hold of some 
tools. Then he found a place in the attic which he could 
use as a shop; and after that, but little was seen of him. 
He spent his time in whittling, hammering, sawing, and 
tinkering, and told his secret to nobody. When his visit 
was ended, and he went to say good-by to his aunt, he gave 
her a little toy boat which had a tiny paddle-wheel on each 
side. “ Keep this boat, aunt, till I come again,” he said. 

When he returned to the Conestoga he found his friend 
still there, fishing from the old flat-bottomed boat. “ I 
have studied it all out, Christopher,” he said. 

The paddle-wheel boat. — For the next two or three 
days the boys spent their time on shore, making a pair of 
paddle-wheels. First, two sticks of equal length were 
fastened together at the middle, so that they stood at 
right angles to each other. Then to the four ends of 
the sticks the boys nailed flat pieces of boards to serve 
as paddles. Two paddle-wheels of this kind were made, 
one for each side of the boat. They were connected 
by a long iron rod which crossed the boat from side 
to side. The rod was bent in the middle so as to form 
a crank. 

The trial trip. —When all was ready^ the boys made a 
trial trip with their boat. They found that the paddles 
were a great improvement over the pole. “ She goes all 
right,” said Christopher ; “ but how are we to guide her ? ” 

“ That is an easy matter,” said Robert Fulton; and he 
rigged an oar at the stern to serve as a rudder. They 
were able then to make the boat go where they wished. 


252 


ROBERT FULTON 


“ Quicksilver Bob.” — Robert Fulton was in one respect 
like Eli Whitney — he was always busy looking into things 
and making things. He was fond of making experiments. 
At one time he bought some quicksilver at the village store, 

and his school¬ 
mates were very 
curious to know 
what he was go¬ 
ing to do with it. 
But in answer 
to all their ques¬ 
tions he merely 
shook his head, 

“ The boys made a trial trip» and the y never 

learned what 

sort of experiment he was trying. From that time, how¬ 
ever, he was known among his intimate friends as 
“ Quicksilver Bob.” It was not a bad nickname for a 
person so restless and busy as he. 

II. PAINTER AND INVENTOR 

Robert Fulton's home was in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. 
During the Revolutionary War he took great interest in 
the gun shops in the village ; for guns, like nails, were then 
made by hand, and almost every blacksmith was also a 
gunsmith. Boy as he was, Robert knew more than most 
men about the science of gun-making. He could tell just 
how far a certain charge of powder would carry a ball; 
and he made many plans for the improvement of firearms. 



PAINTER AND INVENTOR 


253 


An artist. — But Robert did not spend all his time in 
the shops. He was a lover of beautiful pictures, and he 
knew as much about drawing as about tools and machin¬ 
ery. It was his wish to become a great artist. When 
he was seventeen years old he went to Philadelphia to 
receive instruction in art. There he became acquainted 
with Benjamin Franklin, and there he spent three years 
studying and painting. He painted miniature portraits 
and landscapes; and his work was so highly praised that 
his friends advised him to go to Europe for further study. 

In London. — He w 7 as not quite twenty-one when he 
went to London. There the great painter Benjamin West 
received him into his house and gave him instruction in his 
chosen art. He stayed in England several years; but his 
active nature would not permit him to devote all his time 
to the painting of pictures. He took an interest in the 
busy affairs of the world, and was never so happy as when 
“ making things or planning to make them.” He invented 
a double-inclined plane for raising and lowering canal 
boats from one level to another. He patented a mill for 
sawing marble, a dredging machine, a spinning machine, and 
other useful and curious things. There were few busier 
men in England than this young artist from America. 

In Paris. — In 1794 he went to Paris, where he painted 
the first panorama ever seen in France. He then began 
to make experiments with torpedoes to be used in war for 
the blowing up of vessels at sea. He also invented a 
boat for sailing under the water. But neither of these 
schemes proved to be very successful. 


254 


ROBERT FULTON 


The first steamboats. —At that time people had not 
learned to make much use of steam. A few clumsy 
engines had been made, but they were very cumbersome 
and of but little value. There were no steam cars, no 
great steam mills, and no steamboats in all the world. 
Ships and boats were moved by the wind, and a voy¬ 
age of only a few miles often occupied several days. 
While Robert Fulton was in England, several men at 
different places were trying to find some method of mov¬ 
ing boats by means of steam. John Stevens, at Hoboken, 
New Jersey, built a boat wlrich was propelled by steam 
and traveled five miles an hour; but it was looked upon 
rather as a curiosity than as something useful. At Phila¬ 
delphia, a man named 
John Fitch made a boat 
with paddles, which was 
driven by steam at the 
rate of eight miles an 
hour. But for some 
reason this boat did not 
prove successful and 
was abandoned. Other men spent much time and money 
. in trying to make similar inventions, and not one 
succeeded. People laughed at them and said that it was 
folly to think of making steam drive a boat or indeed 
anything else. 

In the meanwhile Robert Fulton was studying the 
same thing. No doubt he remembered the paddles which 
he had made so long before for the fishing-boat on 







THE CLERMONT 


255 


the Conestoga. If he could put a steam engine in 
his boat and make it turn the paddle-wheels, why might 
not steam navigation be made successful ? 

Experiments. — There was in Paris at that time a 
wealthy American whose name was Robert R. Livingston. 
He was much interested in steamboats, and believed that 
the time was coming when they would be in general use. 
He urged Mr. Pulton to build a boat as an experiment, 
and promised to pay a large part of the expense. If the 
experiment was successful he would secure from the New 
York legislature a grant of the sole right to use steam¬ 
boats on the water courses of that state. 

III. THE CLERMONT 

Further experiments. — Thus encouraged, Robert Ful¬ 
ton went earnestly to work. A boat was soon built and 
launched upon the Seine; but it was so top-heavy that it 
sank. Another boat was built with more care, and the 
old machinery was put into it. A trial trip was made; 
but the vessel moved so slowly and uncertainly that it 
seemed to be a failure. Mr. Fulton was not the man to 
be discouraged. u We shall try again,” he said. 

He decided that the next trial must be made in the 
United States. He therefore ordered an engine to be built 
in London; and when it was finished he sailed with it for 
New York. 

“ Fulton’s Folly.” — For the next few months Fulton 
was busy superintending the building of his boat. His 
former failures and the failures of other men had taught 


256 


ROBERT FULTON 


him many valuable lessons. People laughed at him and said 
that he had lost his senses. They called his boat “ Fulton’s 
Folly,” and declared that it was impossible to build a steam 
vessel that would ever be of any use. Mr. Fulton listened 
to their talk and went on with his work. 

The “ Clermont. ,, — At last, in the summer of 1807, 

the boat was finished 
and the engine was put 
in place. The vessel was 
130 feet long and 16^ 
feet wide. It had been 
built with the greatest 
care throughout. It was 
named the Clermont , 
after Mr. Livingston’s 
country home on the 
Hudson. It was a strange-looking craft, not much like the 
modern steamboats which are now seen daily on all our large 
rivers and lakes. Mr. Livingston said that it looked “ like 
a backwoods sawmill mounted on a scow and set on fire.” 

The trial trip. — The 11th of August was the day set 
for the trial trip. The boat was to steam up the Hudson 
River, and if possible go as far as to Albany. Few even 
of Mr. Fulton’s friends believed that it would sail far out 
of sight of the pier from which it started. 

But the trip was successful in every way. The voyage 
to Albany was made in thirty-two hours, and without any 
serious mishap. The return to New York was accom¬ 
plished in thirty hours. There was no longer any doubt 



The “ Clermont’ ? 




THE CLERMONT 


257 


as to whether boats could be propelled by steam. After 
that the Clermont made three trips regularly every week 
between New York and Albany. 

Opposition. — The owners of the sailing vessels on the 
Hudson were very jealous of the new boat. They tried 
in every way to prevent the full success of Mr. Fulton’s 
enterprise. They disputed his claim to the invention, and 
said that he had stolen his ideas from other men. They 
even tried to wreck the Clermont by running their own 
clumsy vessels against her, and breaking oft the wheels. 

Steamboats and steamships. — But in spite of this 
opposition Mr. Fulton persevered. The Clermont , as a 
passenger boat, became 
very popular, and soon 
it was found necessary 
to build others like her. 

In a few years the 
voyage to Albany was 
made in eighteen hours 
instead of thirty-two. 

Soon steamboats were 
in use on all our inland waters. Twelve years after the 
trial trip of the Clermont , the first steamship voyage was 
made across the Atlantic. The vessel wdiich accomplished 
this was the Savannah , of Savannah, Georgia. The voyage 
is now made in about six days, but it then occupied 
twenty-two days. 

Other inventions. — With the invention of the steam¬ 
boat Mr. Fulton accomplished the great work of his life. 

barnes’s el. — 17 





258 


ROBERT FULTON 



“ The voyage is now made in about six days” 


But he was not content to stop with that. He still took 
great interest in the invention of torpedoes for use in 
naval warfare. He planned and built the first steam war¬ 
ship in this country — a vessel carrying forty-four guns. 
The War of 1812 came to a close, however, before this 
ship could be tested, and it was never used. 

In 1815, when only fifty years old, Robert Fulton 
died. His name, like that of Eli Whitney, will always be 
remembered as that of one of the world’s great benefactors. 

REVIEW 

How did people travel from place to place in Washington’s 
time ? How were goods carried ? Make a list of inventions that 
have been made within the last hundred years. Name some things, 
now in everyday use, which were unknown in the time of Washing¬ 
ton. What influence did the perfection of the steamboat have upon 
travel and commerce ? 





ANDREW JACKSON 

AND THE PROGRESS OF THE NATION 
I. A SELF-MADE MAN 

A determined young rebel. — In one of the last years of 
the Revolutionary War, a band of British soldiers in South 
Carolina was sent out to capture some troublesome patriots, 
who were in the neighborhood of Waxhaw Creek. After 
a good deal of difficulty and some sharp fighting, they 
succeeded in bringing in a few backwoodsmen who were 
known to be determined rebels. Among these prisoners 
were two boys, Andrew Jackson, aged thirteen, and his 
brother Robert, who was a little older. 

“ Desperate young fellows these are,” said one of the 
British officers, “ but we shall soon tame them; ” and he 
ordered Andrew to clean and polish his boots. 

The slender, pale-faced boy drew himself up proudly 
and answered, “ Sir, I am a prisoner of war, and demand 
to be treated as such.” 

“ Indeed!” cried the officer. “We shall soon see 
what you are. Down with you, and do my bidding! ” 

The boy’s eyes blazed with fury as he answered, “ I am 
an American, and will not be the slave of any Britisher 
that breathes.” 


259 


2G0 


ANDREW JACKSON 


The angry officer struck at him with his sword, 
Andrew parried the blow, but received a severe cut on 
his arm. To the end of his life the scar from that wound 
continued to nourish his hatred toward the British. 

Reading law. — Rob¬ 
ert Jackson died while 
in the British prison 
pen ; and Andrew, when 
he was finally given his 
freedom, found himself 
alone in the world, and 
obliged to make his own 
way as best he could. 
He worked for a short 
time in a saddler’s shop 
in Charleston, but that 
trade was not agreeable 
to one of his restless 
nature. He had learned, 
in some unexplained 
way, to read and write; 
and so he tried school 

“I am an American ! ” teaching for a little 

while. The next thing 
heard of him, he was in Salisbury, North Carolina, trying 
to read law in the office of a noted judge whose name was 
John McNairy. 

Appointed to office. — He did not learn much law, but 
he was shrewd and self-confident, and had good judgment. 





THE NEW STATE OF TENNESSEE 


261 


And so, through the influence of his friend McNairy, he was 
appointed public prosecutor for the western district of North 
Carolina. He was then only twenty-one years of age. 

n. THE NEW STATE OF TENNESSEE 

At Nashville. — The western district of North Carolina 
comprised all the region now known as Tennessee. It was 
a wild country with only a few scattered settlements of 
white people. The inhabitants were for the most part 
rough backwoodsmen, who disliked the restraints of civil¬ 
ized life, and cared but little for the laws. Many were 
idle and thriftless. Drunken brawls were common. There 
were quarrels which set whole neighborhoods at odds, and 
often ended in bloodshed. To be public prosecutor required 
courage rather than scholarship, and Andrew Jackson 
proved himself well fitted for the position. He settled at 
Nashville, which was then merely a collection of log huts, 
and without fear or favor began to perform his duty. 

District attorney. — In the following spring Washing¬ 
ton was inaugurated first President of the United States; 
and very soon afterward word came to Nashville that 
North Carolina had ceded her western district to the 
general government. Congress had formed a code of 
laws for the Southwest Territory, as the region was then 
called, and Andrew Jackson had been retained in his 
office with the title of district attorney. 

Movement to form a new state. — Three years later 
Congress admitted Kentucky into the Union, and imme¬ 
diately the people of the Southwest Territory began to 


262 


ANDREW JACKSON 


wonder why they too could not form themselves into a 
sovereign state on an equal footing with the others. The 
matter was discussed by the pioneers at all their neighbor¬ 
hood meetings, and finally a convention was called at 
Knoxville to form a state constitution. 

Tennessee. — On a day in midwinter, 1796, a number 
of backwoodsmen, with hunting knives in their belts and 
rifles in their hands, met together in the little log court¬ 
house at Knoxville to lay the foundations of a great 
commonwealth. The district attorney, Andrew Jackson, 
was the man of most influence in that convention; and 
it was through his suggestion that the name of Tennessee 
was selected for the new state. A constitution was soon 
agreed upon, and messengers were sent to Philadelphia to 
lay it before Congress. 

The admission of Tennessee was opposed by Alexander 

Hamilton and the Federal party on the ground that it 
was not wise to permit the ruffian pioneers of the West 
to send representatives to Congress. But the Democratic- 
Republicans under the guidance of Thomas Jefferson 
declared that every man, even though a backwoodsman, 
was entitled to his share in the government of the coun¬ 
try ; and the new state was admitted. 

Jackson in Congress. — When Congress met at Phila¬ 
delphia in the following December, Andrew Jackson 
appeared as the first representative from Tennessee. He 
was then thirty years old, and had never before been in 
the company of cultured people. He was tall and lank, 
“with long locks of hair hanging over his face, and 


EVENTS IN THE WEST 


268 


a cue down his back tied in eel-skin.” He was dressed 
in coarse homespun, and his manners were those of a 
backwoodsman. The time came, in after years, when he 
not only dressed as a gentleman but practiced all the 
courtly graces known to those who move in the most 
refined society. 


HI. EVENTS IN THE WEST 

Senator, judge, and general. —Andrew Jackson did not 
take much part in the discussions of Congress; and when 
he later became a senator from his 
state, he failed to attract much atten¬ 
tion. He soon grew tired of public 
life and returned to Tennessee, where 
he engaged in business as a trader,— 
buying produce from his neighbors and 
shipping it down the Mississippi to 
New Orleans. Although he knew 
very little law, yet his reputation as 
district attorney was such that he 
easily secured an appointment as 
judge of the supreme court of Ten¬ 
nessee. He had never had any mili¬ 
tary training, yet his dauntless daring 
was so well known that he was soon 
afterwards chosen major general of the state’s militia. 

Growth of the country.—In the meanwhile the coun¬ 
try was increasing rapidly in wealth and power. The 
great territory of Louisiana had been purchased from 



‘Tall and lank* 






264 


ANDREW JACKSON 


France. Ohio had been admitted into the Union. New 
lands in the West were being opened for settlement. 

Tecumseh —There were still many Indians in the 
country east of the Mississippi, and these were a source 

of constant anxiety to the 
people in the border settle¬ 
ments. A Shawnee warrior 
named Tecumseh conceived 
the plan of uniting all the 
Indian nations into one con¬ 
federacy for the purpose of 
making a decided stand 
against the white men. He 
stirred up the tribes north 
of the Ohio, and then made 
a visit to the South to en¬ 
list the aid of the Creeks 
in Alabama. 

The battle of Tippecanoe. 

“He stirred up the tribes north TTrl . , . 

of the Ohio” —While he was absent m 

the South, his warriors in 
Indiana Territory became so troublesome that William 
Henry Harrison, the governor of the territory, led out an 
armed force against them. On a day in November, 1811, 
he met a strong band of Indians at Tippecanoe, near the 
site of the present city of Lafayette. They attacked him 
and were so badly beaten that all the tribes were glad to 
sue for peace. When Tecumseh returned to Indiana and 
learned what had happened, he fled to Canada. But his 



THE WAR OF 1812 


265 


visit to the Creeks had its influence, and those Indians 
soon afterwards began to burn and destroy the border 
settlements south of Tennessee. 

IV. THE WAR OF 1812 

War declared. — During all this time the troubles with 
the British, which had begun while Jefferson was Presi¬ 
dent, grew worse and worse. At last they became 
unbearable; and on the 19th of June, 1812, Congress 
declared war against Great Britain. 

At flrst the Americans met with many losses. Detroit 
was surrendered without striking a blow; one skirmish 
after another ended in defeat; and later the city of Wash¬ 
ington was captured and burned. But on the sea our 
sailors proved themselves to be more than a match for the 
boastful British; and of seventeen important sea fights the 
Americans were victors in all but four. Captain Oliver H. 
Perry, with a few clumsy vessels, fought the British on 
Lake Erie and destroyed their fleet; and General Harrison 
defeated the British army in Canada and retook Detroit. 

The Creek War. —In the meanwhile Andrew Jackson — 
late major general of Tennessee militia, but now major 
general in the army of the United States — was busy 
defending the southern borders. He marched against 
the Creeks, and in a campaign of seven months gave 
them such a severe punishment that they dared not make 
any further trouble. He even carried the war into Florida, 
which still belonged to Spain, and captured Pensacola, 
where some British troops had been landed. 


266 


ANDREW JACKSON 


New Orleans. — Toward the end of the year 1814, he 
learned that a strong British force had sailed to the Gulf 
of Mexico, with the intention of attacking New Orleans. 
He at once put his own little army in order and marched 
with all possible speed toward the threatened city. He 
arrived there several days before the British landed, 
and with all his rare energy began to provide for defense. 
He caused intrenchments to be made and breastworks to 
be thrown up; and he was everywhere present to see that 
all things were quickly and properly done. His enthusiasm 



The battle was one of the most remarkable ever known” 


inspired his men and spread like contagion from company 
1815 company; and when, on the 8th of January, the 
British made a grand assault upon his works, every¬ 
thing was in readiness to receive them. 

A famous victory. — The battle that followed was one 
of the most remarkable ever known. The British were 
repulsed with a loss of more than two thousand men. 




AN ACTIVE POLITICIAN 


267 


Jackson’s loss was only seven killed and six wounded. 
It was, indeed, a famous victory. 

Peace. — Had there been a telegraphic cable between 
Europe and America at that time, the battle of New Orleans 
would not have occurred. 

A treaty of peace had been 
signed at Ghent in Hol¬ 
land two weeks before; 
but news traveled very 
slowly in those days, and 
it was a month later be¬ 
fore General Jackson 
learned what had been 
done. The long and dis¬ 
tressing struggle, commonly 

known as the War of 1812, Monument in New Orleans to com- 
- memorate the battle 

was at an end. lhrough 

it the United States won the respect of her enemies 
and gained a place of honor among the world’s great 
nations. American sailors were never more to be in¬ 
sulted upon the high seas. 

V. AN ACTIVE POLITICIAN 

A bold maneuver. — General Jackson was the acknowl¬ 
edged hero of the war. Some time after its close he was 
sent to Georgia to quell an uprising of the Seminole Indians 
in that state. Suspecting that the Spanish were giving 
aid and encouragement to the red men, he marched boldly 
into Florida and took possession of the fort at St. Marks. 






268 


ANDREW JACKSON 


Purchase of Florida. — This was a daring thing to do, 
and might have caused war between our country and 
Spain. But the Spanish king was already planning to 
sell Florida to the United States. President James Mon¬ 
roe, who succeeded James Madison in 1817, offered five 
million dollars for the province, to be paid to citizens 

1819 L x 

of the United States who had claims against Spain. 
The Spanish government after a good deal of delay 
accepted the offer and Florida became a part of the United 
States. 

The first governor. — General Jackson was appointed 
the first American governor of Florida. That region was 
then little more than a wilderness of marshes and tangled 
forests, with but few settlements within her borders. The 
only towns were St. Augustine on the east and Pensacola 
on the west, and the inhabitants of these were Spaniards. 

The Hermitage. — Jackson did not care to remain long 
in the new territory alter there was no further need of 
fighting. He soon returned to Tennessee and retired to 
his home, called the Hermitage, near Nashville. 

Great changes had taken place in the West since Andrew 
Jackson first crossed the mountains to become public prose¬ 
cutor for the western district of North Carolina. Since 
then eleven new states had been added to the Union — 
Vermont, Kentucky, Tennessee, Ohio, Louisiana, Indiana, 
Mississippi, Illinois, Alabama, Maine, and Missouri — and 
of these all but two were west of the Alleghanies. The 
forests and wild prairies had in large part given way to 
fertile farms. Busy villages had sprung up; and pleasant 


AN ACTIVE POLITICIAN 


269 


homes and schoolhouses and churches had taken the place 
of Indian wigwams and squatters’ cabins and frontier 
trading posts. Steamboats plied up and down the larger 
rivers, bringing trade to the very doors of the prosperous 
farmers and planters. Already the great West was begin- 



The Hermitage 


ning to rival the Atlantic slope both in political importance 
and in the wealth and intelligence of its people. 

Presidential candidates. — Hitherto all the presidents 
had been men from the Atlantic states. Four of the five 
who served during the first thirty-six years of our country’s 
history, were citizens of Virginia. The people beyond the 
Alleghanies began to feel that the time had come for the 








270 


ANDREW JACKSON 


West to assert itself. The next President, they said, must 
represent the new and growing West. 

Election of John Quincy Adams. — Since his victory at 
New Orleans, General Jackson had been the most popular 
man in the country; but another western man, Henry 
Clay of Kentucky, had proved himself to be one of the 
most accomplished statesmen of the time. Both men had 
hosts of friends, and it seemed to the people of the West 
that one of them must surely be chosen. But there were 
other candidates in the field, for the East and the 

1824 . 

South had each its favorite. The result was that 
not one of the candidates received a majority of electoral 
votes. It therefore became necessary for the House of 
Representatives to choose the President, and the choice fell 
upon John Quincy Adams. 

VI. THE SEVENTH PRESIDENT 

1 ‘Not fit to be President.” —Jackson had very modestly 
said, “ I can command troops in my rough way, but I am 
not fit to be President.” Yet he was much disappointed 
by his defeat; and by way of revenge, he made some 
serious charges against both Adams and Clay which, to 
his discredit, were as untrue as they were unkind. 

Jackson successful at last. — When the time for another 
presidential election came round, Jackson was again named 
as a candidate. His admirers united in his support, and 
he was elected. On the 4th of March, 1829, he was inau¬ 
gurated the seventh President of the United States. 

The tariff. — Of the many acts of President Jackson’s 


THE SEVENTH PRESIDENT 


271 


administration the most important was that relating to 
what is known as the nullification act of South Caro¬ 
lina. Congress had passed a law putting a high tariff 
or tax on woolen cloths and certain other manufactured 
goods brought into the United States from foreign coun¬ 
tries. The object of the law was to protect American 
manufacturers, and one of its results was to increase the 
price at which all such goods were sold. But there were no 
manufactures in the South; and the southern''people did 
not think it right to be obliged to pay taxes on imported 
goods. They claimed that the law was made for the bene¬ 
fit of northern manufacturers, and that it was an act of 
great injustice to the South. 

The nullification act. — Finally the people of South 
Carolina met in convention and declared that, so far as 
their state was concerned, the law was null and void, and 
would not be obeyed; and they asserted that if any attempt 
was made to enforce it in any of the ports of South Caro¬ 
lina she would secede from, or go out of, the Union. 

“ The Union must be preserved.” — It was supposed that 
since President Jackson was himself a native of Carolina, 
and since he had been elected chiefly by southern votes, 
he would be friendly to the nullifiers. On the contrary, 
he issued a proclamation declaring that "the laws of the 
United States must be executed.” "The Union must 
and shall be preserved,” he said; and then, to show that 
he was in earnest, he sent to Charleston two ships and a 
body of troops under General Scott with orders to quell the 
first motion toward rebellion. At about the same time. 


272 


ANDREW JACKSON 


Henry Clay came forward and proposed a compromise 
measure which was so satisfactory to all parties that the 
South Carolinians ceased their opposition to the hated 
law. 

Andrew Jackson served two terms, or eight years, as 
President of the United States. His faults were many, 
his mistakes not a few; and yet scarcely any other Presi¬ 
dent since Washington ever won so high a place in the 
esteem and admiration of his fellow-citizens. At the close 
of his administration he said, “ I leave this great people 
happy and prosperous.” 

He lived for eight years in peaceful retirement at the 
Hermitage, and died on the 8th of June, 1845, at the ripe 
age of seventy-eight. 


REVIEW 

What qualities in Andrew Jackson’s character enabled him to 
become a great man ? Tell what you know about early times in 
Tennessee. Describe Andrew Jackson’s appearance when he first 
entered Congress. Why did Tecumseh attempt to form a confed¬ 
eracy of Indians ? What were the causes of the War of 1812 ? 
What part did Andrew Jackson take in that war ? Tell about the 
battle of New Orleans. Who were the candidates for the presidency 
in 1824? How was John Quincy Adams elected? Why did the 
people of the South object to the tariff law ? What stand did Jack- 
son take when South Carolina threatened to secede from the Union ? 
Why was Jackson so popular a President ? 


SAMUEL F. B. MORSE 
AND THE INVENTION OF THE TELEGRAPH 
I. SCHOOL AND COLLEGE 

His childhood. — Samuel Finley Breese Morse was born 
in Charlestown, Massachusetts. At the time of his birth 
George Washington had been President of the United 
States just two years lacking two days. Andrew Jackson 
was then serving his first term as district attorney in the 
backwoods of Tennessee; Eli Whitney was working his 
way through Yale College ; and Robert Fulton was paint¬ 
ing pictures in London and drawing plans for new in¬ 
ventions. 

Mr. Morse, the father of Finley, as the lad was called, 
was the pastor of the Congregational Church in Charles¬ 
town. He was a man of much influence. He was also 
a great scholar and wrote the first geography of any note 
ever published in this country. 

At school. — Little Finley was sent to school almost as 
soon as- he could walk. He learned very fast, and took 
great delight in drawing pictures, which was against the 
rules of the school. 


barnes’s be, — 18 


273 











274 


SAMUEL F. B. MORSE 


Preparing for college. — When he was seven years old 
he was sent to Andover to attend the famous Phillips Acad¬ 
emy there and be prepared for college. He was a dili¬ 
gent student and, for so young a lad, was very thoughtful. 
He liked to read about great men, and one of his favorite 
books was Plutarch’s “ Lives.” At fifteen he entered 
Yale College. 

The first electrical experiment. — It was while in col¬ 
lege that Finley Morse first became interested in electricity. 
Very little was known about it at that time. Franklin 
had made several experiments and had published some 
pamphlets on the subject. He had discovered that 
lightning and thunder are caused by electricity, and 
he had suggested the lightning-rod. But nobody sup¬ 
posed that electricity could ever be made of any prac¬ 
tical use. 

The instructor in natural philosophy at Yale was Pro¬ 
fessor Day. He had a very crude, old-fashioned electrical 
machine which would throw out sparks and produce a 
slight current of electricity. Once a year, when his class 
reached the short chapter on electricity in the college text¬ 
book, he would bring out this machine to illustrate the 
two or three things then known about that strange force 
which has since become of so much importance in the 
world’s work. 

"Now, boys,” he would say, "we will try a few 
experiments.” 

All the boys joined hands and stood up in a circle. 
The electrical machine was set to going. The boy nearest 


A SUCCESSFUL ARTIST 


275 



to it presented his knuckles. Instantly there was a slight 
flash, and every boy felt a strange, half-painful shock pass 
through his arms. The 
last boy felt the shock 
at precisely the same 
moment as the first 
boy. The electricity 
had j)assed through 
the entire circle in no 
time at all. But few 
of the boys cared to 
make any further in¬ 
vestigation of the sub¬ 
ject. The whole thing was strange and interesting, but 
of what use was it ? 

What is electricity ? — Finley Morse, however, was 
much impressed by the experiment. “ What is electric¬ 
ity ?” he asked himself. “It is a force, for it jerked 
every arm through which it passed. It acts instantane¬ 
ously, and therefore it must travel very rapidly. Being a 
force, why can it not be controlled and made to perform 
some kind of useful work ? ” 


“ All the boys joined hands ” 


IL A SUCCESSFUL ARTIST 

Making miniatures.—Interesting as electricity appeared 
to be, young Morse gave it but little more attention. All 
his spare time was given to painting, and his chief ambi¬ 
tion was to become a good artist. During his last year in 
college he was very busy making portraits. “ My price 


276 


SAMUEL F. B. MORSE 


is five dollars for a miniature on ivory,” he wrote home to 
his mother, “ and 1 have engaged two or three at that 
price. My price for profiles is one dollar, and everybody 
is willing to engage me at that price.” 

A trip to England. —About a year after graduating from 
college, Finley Morse decided to go to England, where he 
would have better opportunities to study art. The voy¬ 
age was very long and tiresome, for no steamship had yet 
crossed the Atlantic. The first thing that Morse did after 
landing was to write a letter to his parents at home. 

“ I only wish,” he said, “ that you had this letter now 
to relieve your minds from anxiety. ... I wish that in 
an instant I could communicate the information. But 
three thousand miles are not passed over in an instant.” 

Little did he dream that an invention of his own 
would sometime make it possible to send news instantly 
from London to New York. 

An art student. — He remained four years in London 
painting pictures and studying under Benjamin West, with 
whom Robert Fulton had also studied. A large painting 
called “ The Dying Hercules,” which he made at that time, 
was praised very highly by the art critics of England. 

A portrait painter. —When twenty-four years of age he 
returned to America and set up a studio in Boston. People 
liked to come and look at his beautiful pictures, but they 
did not care to buy of him or to give him work to do. 
Soon all his money was gone, and he was obliged to go 
from village to village in New England, painting portraits 
for those who wished them. No one had yet learned ho\y 


YEARS OF EXPERIMENT 


277 


to make photographs, and so he found much work to do. 
Then he settled for a while in Charleston, South Carolina, 
and afterwards in New York, giving most of his time to 
the painting of portraits. 

III. YEARS OF EXPERIMENT 

A change of purpose. — Mr. Morse was more than forty 
years old before the idea of making an electric telegraph 
took hold of him and caused him to give up his chosen 
profession. He had been in Paris and was returning 
home on the packet ship Sully. On board the same ship 
was a young student of natural science, who had been 
visiting in Europe. 

“I spent some time,” said the student, “with Ampere, 
the great electrician, and I saw him perform some wonder¬ 
ful experiments with the electro-magnet.” 

“ What is that ? ” asked Mr. Morse. 

“ It is a bar of soft iron surrounded by a coil of copper 
wire. By sending a current of electricity through the 
wire, the bar is made a magnet; and as long as the current 
continues it has all the properties of any other magnet. 
But as soon as the current ceases, it loses these properties.” 

“ Suppose a very long wire is used, does that make 
any difference in the strength or speed of the current ? ” 

“ It does not. Dr. Franklin proved by experiment 
that electricity passes in an instant through any known 
length of wire.” 

“ If that is the case I see no reason why some means 
cannot be discovered whereby news can be carried by 


278 


SAMUEL F. B. MORSE 


electricity. And if it can be carried ten miles, why not 
carry it around the world ? 99 

The telegraph.—From that moment, Mr. Morse devoted 
all his spare time and energy to the invention of the 
electric telegraph. Even before the ship Sully reached 
New York, he drew a rough plan of a telegraphic instru¬ 
ment in some respects like the instruments now in use. 
lie also studied out the signs to be used as an alphabet. 
The perfecting of the instrument for sending and receiv¬ 
ing messages would require much study, and to this his 
attention wa& chiefly given. 

Experimenting. — The first thing to be done after land¬ 
ing in New York was to find a place to work. He fitted 
up a little garret room at the corner of Beekman and 
Nassau streets, and began the making of models and the 
trying of experiments. There he lived alone for several 
months. He did his own cooking, wore shabby clothes, 
and was seldom seen even by his brothers and most 
intimate friends. 

Professor in the University of New York. — But he could 

not live and carry on his experiments without money; and 
he soon found it necessary to earn something by the prac¬ 
tice of his art. Through the influence of his friends he was 
appointed professor of the arts of design in the University 
of New York. The little down-town shop was given up, 
and he established himself in rooms on the third floor of 
the university building overlooking Washington Square. 
There, while not engaged in the duties of his professorship, 
lie continued his experiments. 


SUCCESS AT LAST 


279 


The first telegraphic machine. — In September, 1837, 
Mr. Morse invited the professors of the University, besides 
others who were interested 
in his work, to come and 
see what he was able to do 
with his invention. Seven¬ 
teen hundred feet of wire 
had been stretched around 
his rooms, and through this 
several messages were sent. 

. ... An early telegraphic machine 

Ihe receiving instrument 

was so made that the words were written — in telegraphic 
symbols — on a long strip of paper. The machine was of 
course very imperfect and crude, but it did all that was 
claimed for it. 

IV. SUCCESS AT LAST 

Delays. — Mr. Morse at once applied for a patent on 
his invention, and he petitioned Congress to aid him in 
building a line of telegraph. After this there were many 
vexatious delays. Money was needed to carry on the 
work, and but few men were willing to take any risks in 
an enterprise about which they understood so little. To 
send messages over a wire without also sending the paper 
upon which they were written, seemed to most people 
utterly impossible. Years of discouragement and poverty 
followed. It was not until March, 1843, that Congress 
at length consented to grant thirty thousand dollars for 
the construction of a trial line between Baltimore and 
Washington. 






280 


SAMUEL F. B. MORSE 


The distance from Washington to Baltimore is about 

forty miles, and work was begun at the Washington end. 
About half of the line was finished, when a convention of 
Whigs met in Baltimore for the purpose of nominating a 
candidate for* the presidency of the United States. Mr. 
Morse resolved to test the practical value of his telegraph. 
The convention chose Henry Clay as its candidate. The 
news was at once carried by railroad train to the nearest 
point that had been reached by the telegraph line. From 
that point it was sent over the wires to. Washington. The 
train went onward, and at length also arrived in Washing¬ 
ton. What was the surprise of the passengers to find that 
the news of Clay’s nomination had reached the city nearly 
an hour before ! This was the first real news message 
ever transmitted by electric telegraph. 

The first message. — A few weeks later the line was 
finished, and on the 24th of May, 1844, it was ready for 
operation. Mr. Morse and his friends met in the cham¬ 
ber of the supreme court of the United States to celebrate 
its formal opening. Miss Annie G. Ellsworth, of Wash¬ 
ington, had been the first to tell Mr. Morse of the action 
of Congress in granting him the aid which he had asked 
for; and to her was given the honor of choosing the 
words for the first message. They were these: “ What 
hath God wrought?” The strip of paper on which the 
characters were printed by the telegraphic instrument may 
still be seen in the Athenaeum at Hartford, Connecticut. 

First earnings of the telegraph. — There was no longer 
any question about the successful working of the tele- 


SUCCESS AT LAST 


281 


graph ; but people did not at once appreciate its usefulness. 
During the first year the line was controlled by the post 
office department at Washington. One cent was charged 
for every four letters or characters in messages transmitted 
to Baltimore. The receipts during the first four days 



Laying the Atlantic cable 


were only one cent; during the next four they amounted 
to something over three dollars. 

Mr. Morse offered to sell his telegraph to the govern¬ 
ment. But Congress refused to give the hundred thousand 
dollars which he required for it. A private company called 
the Magnetic Telegraph Company then obtained control 
of it 5 and soon there were telegraphs in all parts of our 












282 


SAMUEL F. B. MORSE 


country. Other persons tried to invent machines better 
than Morse’s; they infringed upon his patents; they did 
all that they could to deprive him of both the honor and 
the profit which belonged to him as the inventor of the 
telegraph. In the end, however, he triumphed over all 
opposition. 

The Atlantic cable. — In 1858, when Professor Morse 
was sixty-seven years old, the first telegraphic cable was 
laid across the Atlantic Ocean. Only about four hundred 
messages were sent by this cable, and then it ceased to 
work. Eight years later another cable was laid. It was 
twenty-three hundred miles in length and weighed forty 
thousand tons. Since that time it has been possible at 
any time to send messages instantaneously from our coun¬ 
try to almost any city in Europe. There are now several 
ocean cables all in working condition. 

Samuel Finley Breese Morse lived to be more than 
eighty years of age. He died honored by all the world 
as one of the greatest inventors of the times. 

REVIEW 

Name some of the useful ways in which electricity is now em¬ 
ployed. Who first discovered that lightning and thunder are caused 
by electricity ? When Samuel F. B. Morse was in college, how long 
a time was required for news to come from London to New York ? 
What battle would never have been fought had there been an ocean 
telegraph cable at that time? What first caused Mr. Morse to 
believe in the possibility of an electric telegraph ? If there were 
no telegraph lines now, would it be possible to carry on business as 
at present ? Why ? Why is Samuel F. B. Morse to be considered 
as one of the great benefactors of our country ? 


HENRY CLAY 


AND THE COMPEOMISES BETWEEN THE NOETH 
AND THE SOUTH 

I. THE MILL BOY OF THE SLASHES 

The schoolhouse. — In Hanover County, Virginia, there 
is a marshy district, which on account of its many swamps 
is known as the “ Slashes.” Here there stood during Revo¬ 
lutionary times a little log schoolhouse which had neither 
floor nor ceiling nor any windows. At one end of it there 
was a wide door which was never closed; at the other 
there was a huge fireplace made of stones and burnt clay. 
Between the door and the fireplace there were three or 
four long, narrow benches, without backs, where the boys 
sat and- hummed aloud their lessons in spelling and read¬ 
ing. Except a stool for the teacher, and a shelf or two 
on the wall, there was no other furniture. Outside of the 
little building everything was dismal and bare — desolate 
bogs and lonely farms and a landscape devoid of beauty. 

Henry Clay. —Among the children of the Slashes who 
attended school at that poor place there was a thin-faced, 
light-haired, barefooted little fellow, whose name was Henry 
Clay. This child was six years old when the treaty of 
peace was made, which gave to the American colonies 
their liberty. His father was dead. His mother was very 

283 


284 


HENRY CLAY 



The children of the Slashes at school 


poor. He was the fifth in a family of seven little children. 
There was a charm in the looks and manners of the lad 
which no one could ever withstand; it attracted respect 
and love wherever he went. That same charm remained 
with him through life and was the secret of his wonderful 
influence over his fellow-men. 

Going to mill. — Little Henry was so bright and quick 
that at the end of a few weeks he had learned to read, and 
write, and cipher “ as far as Practice.” The schoolmaster 
could teach him no more. The rest of his childhood was 
spent on his mother’s farm, plowing, and hoeing, and doing 




ATTORNEY AND STATESMAN 


285 


the thousand things that farmer boys must do. He never 
attended another school. 

Years afterward the neighbors told how he would rise 
at daybreak and ride to the mill for his mother; a bag of 
corn was thrown across his pony’s back, and upon this he 
would sit, his bare legs dangling on either side. People 
saw him so often plodding along the boggy road that they 
came to know him as the u Mill Boy of the Slashes ” ; and 
this name in later life became one of his proudest titles. 

II. ATTORNEY AND STATESMAN 

At Richmond. — When Henry Clay was fourteen years 
old he left the farm and went to Richmond. There he 
found work for a few weeks as errand boy in a drug store. 
About that time his mother married again and his step¬ 
father secured a place for him as copying clerk in the 
office of the Chancery Court. He was only fifteen, and 
to be employed in such a place he must have been a good 
writer and a boy of much promise. 

His odd appearance. — The other clerks stared at him 
in amusement when he first entered the office. He was 
very slender and tall, with long, straight hair combed 
smoothly over his ears. He wore a suit of “ pepper- 
and-salt” homespun. His wide shirt collar was stiffly 
starched; his coat tails stood out behind him. He had 
every appearance of a country greenhorn. 

Becomes an attorney. — But that nameless charm 
which he possessed won the immediate friendship of all 
in the office. His handwriting attracted the attention 


286 


HENRY CLAY 


of Chancellor Wythe, who had been the teacher of Thomas 
Jefferson. Mr. Wythe told him what books to read, and 
encouraged him to study law. Young Clay soon became 
acquainted with several distinguished men; he studied 


diligently, and before 
he was twenty years 
old he was licensed as 
an attorney. He then 
removed to Lexington, 
Kentucky, and began 
the practice of his pro¬ 
fession. 



At Lexington. — He 

was successful from the 
start. He began at 


“The Mill Boy of the Slashes” 


once to take an active part in politics, and when only 
twenty-six years old was elected to the state legislature. 
Before he had quite completed his thirtieth year he was 
appointed to fill a vacancy in the United States Senate. 
The term soon came to an end, and he was again elected 
to the state legislature. 

In Congress. — Two years later, at the beginning of 
President Madison’s administration, Mr. Clay took his seat 
for the second time in the United States Senate. From 
that day until the end of his life he was one of the fore¬ 
most men in the councils of the nation ; and as a member 
either of the Senate or of the House of Representatives 
his voice was heard on all the important questions that 
claimed the attention of the government. 


SLAVERY 


287 


The War of 1812 . —When President Madison in 1812 
hesitated as to the best course to pursue with Great Britain, 
it was Henry Clay who urged war. It was the only way, 
he said, by which our country could maintain its honor 
and secure a lasting peace. And when the people began 
to despair because of early losses and disasters in that 
war, it was Henry Clay who went about making great 
speeches and inspiring every heart with patriotism. At 
the close of the war he was one of the commissioners 
who signed the treaty of peace. 

A great question. — Six years later, when Clay was 
speaker of the House of Representatives, a question of 
vast importance came before Congress. It was a question 
which for the time threatened to break up the Union and 
destroy the very life of the nation. Then it was that 
Henry Clay came forward as a peacemaker and performed 
the first of many friendly acts which gave him the title 
of the Great Pacificator. To understand this we must 
trace briefly the history of the cause of long disagree¬ 
ments between the North and the South. 

III. SLAVERY 

Slavery was at the bottom of the trouble. Slaves, as 
you have already learned, were brought into this country 
at the time of the earliest settlements. They were at 
first held in all the colonies, as well in the North as in 
the South. While the people generally accepted slavery 
as they found it, there were some who feared that in the 
end it would bring about evil results. 


288 


HENRY CLAY 


At the close of the Revolution slavery existed in every 
state. In the Northern states, however, beginning with 
New Hampshire and Pennsylvania, it was gradually abol¬ 
ished. It was abolished, not so much because the people 
pitied the slaves, but because slave labor was less profit¬ 
able than free labor. Washington, Jefferson, and other 
founders of the nation saw clearly the evils of slavery, and 
wished that it could be entirely done away with. 

The Northwest Territory. — When the region north of 
the Ohio River became a territory of the United States, 
Congress adopted an ordinance, or general law, in which 
it was declared that slavery should never be permitted 
in that part of our country. The states of Ohio, Indiana, 
Illinois, Michigan, and Wisconsin, which were formed 
from that territory, were therefore free states from the 
beginning. The Ohio River was the boundary line be¬ 
tween freedom and slavery. 

Cotton and slavery.—After the invention of the cotton 
gin by Eli Whitney, cotton-raising became the chief in¬ 
dustry of the South. It was believed that only negroes 
could do the hard work on the great plantations. Every 
year slaves became more and more valuable. The senti¬ 
ment in the South against slavery became weaker and 
weaker as slave labor became more profitable. Virginia 
and Kentucky, in which but little cotton could be raised, 
became great slave-producing states, sending a constant 
stream of negroes to the slave markets of the more south¬ 
ern states. 

To the people of the South slavery was a source of 


SLAVERY 


289 


prosperity and wealth ; it was but natural that they should 
wish to strengthen and defend it. 

South and North. — When the Constitution of the 
United States was adopted there were seven Northern 
states and six Southern states. Virginia, a Southern state, 
had a larger number of inhabitants than any other. The 
senators and representatives in Congress, therefore, were 
about equally divided — half from the South and half 
from the North. The idea grew that this equality should 
always be preserved. Many men failed to think of our 
country as a great nation, every part of which was inter¬ 
ested in the welfare of every other part. They thought 
of it as composed of many states, or little nations, leagued 
together for protection. They thought of these states as 
comprising two groups or sections — the South and the 
North; and, since the South had slavery and the North 
had it not, it was supposed that the interests of the two 
sections were different and that each was all the time try¬ 
ing to get some advantage over the other. Thus jeal¬ 
ousies sprang up, and whenever one section seemed to be 
getting more than its equal share in the government there 
were threats from some of the states in the other section 
to secede, or withdraw, from the Union. 

The admission of new states. — It was the constant 
care of patriotic statesmen on both sides to keep the two 
sections as nearly equal as possible. The first new state 
admitted to the Union was Vermont, a free state; but the 
balance was preserved by soon afterward admitting Ken¬ 
tucky, a slave state. Next, Tennessee, a slave state, was 

barnes’s el. — 19 


290 


HENRY CLAY 


followed by Ohio, a free state. Then Louisiana was 
offset with Indiana, and Mississippi with Illinois. In 1819 
Alabama was admitted. There were then eleven slave 
states and eleven free states, and each section had twenty- 
two senators in the United States Congress. 

IV. THE FIRST GREAT COMPROMISE 

The question about Missouri. — The time was at hand 

for the admission of two more states, Maine and Mis¬ 
souri. Of course Maine would be free; but how about 
Missouri? No other state had yet been formed entirely 
west of the Mississippi; and no boundary line between 
freedom and slavery had been established in the region ac¬ 
quired through the Louisiana Purchase. If Missouri should 
be admitted with slavery there would be as many slave 
states as free states; if. she should be admitted without it 
the free states would have a decided majority in Congress. 

Henry Clay as a peacemaker. — There were many hot 
discussions in Congress. There were threats, both from 
southern men and from northern men, of breaking up the 
Union in case the matter should be decided contrary to 
their wishes. Then Henry Clay, in his masterly way, 
came forward as the peacemaker. “ It is impossible, 55 he 
said, “for both sections to have all that is desired. Let 
each, therefore, give up a little to the other, and let us 
preserve this Union of the states.” And then he advo¬ 
cated a plan that had been proposed by the Senate for the 
settlement of the dispute — the plan since known as the 
Missouri Compromise. 


THE SECOND GREAT COMPROMISE 291 

The Missouri Compromise.—The compromise provided 
that Missouri should come into the Union as a slave' 
state: this was to satisfy the South. On the other 
hand it declared that all the rest of the Louisiana Pur¬ 
chase north of the line that forms the southern boundary 
of Missouri should forever be free: this was to appease 
the North. The compromise seemed so fair to both par¬ 
ties that it was adopted. It proved to be a great victory 
for the South. The slaveholding power was triumphant, 
and for the next thirty years it controlled Congress and 
most other branches of the government. 

Y. THE SECOND GREAT COMPROMISE 

Clay and the presidency. — Henry Clay was now 
acknowledged to be the leading statesman of the West. 
The people of his own state idolized him. In the halls 
of Congress he had but two equals, Daniel Webster of 
Massachusetts, and John C. Calhoun of South Carolina. 
We have already learned how, in 1824, Clay was 
nominated for the presidency, and how he failed to be 
elected. For the next twenty years he lived in con¬ 
stant expectancy of being President. He would have 
been the choice of a large portion of the people. He 
was probably the ablest man among all the candidates 
for that high position. But he had incurred the hatred 
of Andrew Jackson, the popular hero of the time; he 
was opposed by jealous politicians in his own party; and 
he, therefore, never gained the prize that seemed often 
within his reach. Another man would have felt the dis- 


292 


HENRY CLAY 


appointment keenly, but Mr. Clay said: “ I would rather 
be right than President.” 

The second great compromise. — In the story of Andrew 
Jackson it has been told how the state of South Carolina 
tried to nullify the laws of Congress, and how she was 
ready, in case of opposition, to withdraw from the Union. 
It was President Jackson who said, “ The Union must 
and shall be preserved; ” but any use of force on his 



Clay’s home in Kentucky 


part would very likely have brought on a bloody and dis¬ 
astrous war. It was Henry Clay who preserved the Union 
by coming forward at the right time and proposing a com¬ 
promise by which the tariff law was made less hateful to 
the South. Thus, for the second time, he acted as peace¬ 
maker between the sections. 

The growth of slavery. — Every year the country in¬ 
creased in prosperity. As the cotton planters of the South 
grew wealthier and wealthier, their plantations were made 


THE THIRD GREAT COMPROMISE Wd 

larger, and more and more slaves were required to work 
them. The demand for cotton became greater with each 
passing year. More lands were needed, and more territory 
• in which slave labor would be profitable. This, together 
with the desire to preserve the power of the South in Con¬ 
gress, led to the admission into the Union of Texas, which 
had been a part of Mexico. 

The Mexican War. — This brought on a war with Mexico. 
It was a disastrous war for Mexico ; for at its end she was 
obliged to give up a large portion of her territory to the 
United States. The lands thus added to our country 
included California, Nevada, Utah, most of New Mexico 
and Arizona, and a part of Colorado and Wyoming. 

Hopes of the South. — At that time the only inhabitants 
of those territories were Indians and a few Mexicans, and 
the region was for the most part unknown and unexplored. 
But it was hoped that in due time settlers would be attracted 
thither, and if slave states could be formed there, the power 
of the South would be much increased. 

VL THE THIRD GREAT COMPROMISE 

Gold in California. — Very soon after the close of the 
war some Americans discovered gold in California. As 
soon as the news reached the Atlantic states there was an 
excitement such as has never since been known. Great 
numbers of men, especially in the North, left their homes 
and hastened to go to the golden West. Some went in 
ships around South America; some shortened the voyage 
by crossing the isthmus of Panama; some went in wagons 


294 


HENRY CLAY 


and on foot across the great plains and the mountainous 
regions beyond. Go which way they would it was a toil¬ 
some and perilous journey of many months; for as yet 
there were no roads to the Pacific Coast. Most of these 
men were accustomed to labor; they had no slaves and 



they wanted none ; they hoped to get great wealth quickly 
and easily from the gold mines of California. 

The South disappointed. — Now the line which the Mis¬ 
souri Compromise had named as dividing freedom and 
slavery did not extend through the territory gained by 
the Mexican War. Had it done so, a large portion of 
California would have been south of that line. The slave¬ 
holders of the South claimed, however, that it belonged to 
that part of the country which had been assigned to their 








THE THIRD GREAT COMPROMISE 


295 


section. They expected that California would become a slave 
state. What was their astonishment when they learned 
that the men of California had organized a free-state gov¬ 
ernment and were asking for admission into the Union! 

The cause of disagreement. — This was in 1850. Ever 
since the Missouri Compromise was made, the balance of 
power between the two sections had been well kept. There 
were now fifteen free states and fifteen slave states. The 
mere admission of California as a free state would not 
disturb the balance much; but the South claimed that it 
would violate the spirit of the Missouri Compromise and 
give the North a great advantage. 

The question was before Congress for ten months. 
Again there were open threats of breaking up the Union. 
The whole country was full of excitement. The nation 
seemed drifting to destruction. 

The Compromise of 1850 . — Then Henry Clay came 
forward for the third time as a peacemaker, and for the 
third time he saved the Union. The compromise which he 
advocated is known in history as the “ Compromise of 
1850.” It provided among other things that California 
should be a free state and that there should be no more 
slave markets in the District of Columbia ; these were con¬ 
cessions to the North. On the other hand, slavery was 
not to be prohibited in any of the other territories taken 
from Mexico, and a very severe law — known as the Fugi¬ 
tive Slave Law — was to be enacted requiring runaway 
slaves in the North to be returned to their masters; these 
were concessions to the South. 


296 


HENRY CLAY 


The slavery question supposed to be settled. — The meas¬ 
ure was debated in Congress for many days. Daniel Web¬ 
ster, in supporting it, made the last great speech of bis life. 
John C. Calhoun, too feeble to read his own speech against 
the compromise, was carried from the Senate chamber to 
his deathbed. Congress finally voted to adopt the plan, 
and men of both sections felt relieved that the crisis was 
past. “This settles the slavery question forever,” they 
said. “We shall have no more disputes about it.” 

This was Henry Clay’s last great work. —■ Clay was 
already in feeble health. In December, 1851, he took his 
seat in the Senate for the last time. Before the end of 
the following June the Great Pacificator was dead. 

REVIEW 

What was there in the character of Henry Clay that enabled him 
to become a great man ? What was Clay’s course with reference to 
the War of 1812 ? Why ? Tell what you know about slavery in 
the colony of Virginia; in the colony of Georgia. Why was slavery 
abolished in the North? What invention caused slaveholding to 
become very profitable in the South ? How many slave states and 
how many free states were there when the Constitution was adopted ? 
Why did politicians desire to keep the number of slave states and 
free states about equal ? Why did the South wish Missouri to be 
a slave state ? Why did the North object ? What compromise did 
Henry Clay propose ? What was the cause of Henry Clay’s great 
popularity? Why was he never elected President? What other 
two compromises did he propose? When was gold discovered in 
California? Why was Henry Clay called the Great Pacificator? 
What two other famous statesmen are often compared with him f 



ROBERT E. LEE 

AND THE UPRISING IN THE SOUTH 
I. THE BEGINNING OF A FAMOUS CAREER 

Light Horse Harry Lee. — Among the personal friends 
whom George Washington welcomed to his home at Mount 
Vernon none was more loved and trusted than Henry Lee 


“A famous corps of dragoons, the finest in the American army ” 

of Virginia. During the Revolutionary War, Lee was 
the commander of a famous corps of dragoons, the finest 
in the American army. This fact, coupled with his known 
fearlessness in the face of danger, gave him the familiar 

297 



298 


ROBERT E. LEE 


name of “Light Horse Harry.” After the war he was 
prominent in that great company of Virginia statesmen 
which numbered among its members Washington, Jeffer¬ 
son, Madison, Monroe, Patrick Henry, and Chief Justice 
Marshall. 

His address on Washington. — Henry Lee was twice 
chosen governor of his state, and in 1799 was elected to 
Congress. On the death of Washington he was appointed 
to deliver the funeral address. It was in this address that 
he first uttered those words about Washington which all 
Americans like to quote : “First in war, first in peace, and 
first in the hearts of his fellow-citizens.” 

Birth of Robert E. Lee. — At the close of his term in 
Congress, General Henry Lee retired to his home in West- 
moreland County. There he occupied himself with the 


oversight of his large plan¬ 
tation and his numerous 
slaves, and with the gener¬ 
ous entertainment of his 
many friends; and there, 
within sight of the birth¬ 
place of Washington, his 
youngest son, Robert Ed¬ 
ward, was born on the 
19th of January, 1807. 



The childhood home of Robert E. Lee was a stately 
brick mansion, from the towers of which one might watch 
the vessels sailing up and down the Potomac. The 
rooms were large, the ceilings were lofty, and all the 





THE BEGINNING OF A FAMOUS CAREER 


299 


furnishings were rich and massive. A child in such a 
house could want for nothing. There were black servants 
to wait upon him; there were books and pictures and 
pleasant companions to provide for his amusement; there 
were all the comforts and delights that wealth could give. 

And yet Robert Lee was not brought up as a spoiled 
child. His father’s example taught him to be self-reliant 
and brave, and above all, loyal to his native Virginia. 
His mother’s precepts led him always to love and prac¬ 
tice truth, morality, and religion. 

At West Point.—While he was still a small boy the 
family removed to Alexandria, just opposite the new city 
of Washington. He soon afterwards became a pupil in the 
Alexandria Academy and afterwards entered a famous 
private school in the same town, where he was prepared 
for college. At eighteen he decided to follow the profession 
in which his father had won distinction, the profession of 
arms. He therefore entered the Military Academy at 
West Point, from which in due time he graduated, the 
second in his class. He was made a lieutenant and soon 
afterward a captain in the Engineer Corps of the United 
States army. 

An officer of the government. — The United States, 
however, w^as then at peace with all the world; and it 
was not until Lee was nearly forty years old that any¬ 
thing occurred to call him into active military service. 
In the meanwhile he was occupied in looking after the 
building of forts and arsenals, and in the dull routine of 
a soldier’s life in times of peace. But when the Mexican 


300 


ROBERT E. LEE 



Cadets at West Point in the time of Robert E. Lee 

War began he was assigned to duty as chief engineer of the 
army, and was one of the first to be sent to the border. 

II. THE MEXICAN WAR 

Mexico and Texas. —The Mexican War was caused by 
the annexation of Texas to the United States. All the 
country west of the present state of Louisiana had once 
belonged to Spain. In 1820, the people of Mexico became 
independent of Spain and set up a government of their own. 
Texas was a territory of Mexico. It was a wild region of 
prairies and woodlands, with scarcely any inhabitants. 

Settlement of Texas. — The Mexicans did not seem to 
think that Texas was worth settling. But a country so 
fertile and promising could not long be hidden from 








THE MEXICAN WAR 


301 


Americans. Moses Austin, a Connecticut Yankee, obtained 
from the Mexican government several grants of land near 
the very center of the territory. His son Stephen founded 
a number of American settlements on these grants. Other 
Americans came from the South and the West. Cotton 
planters came with their slaves, and opened great planta¬ 
tions in the river valleys. Men from Tennessee and the 
more northern states found this region an ideal place for 
stock-raising. Bough characters, vagabonds, and fugitives 
from justice flocked to Texas, where they could live with¬ 
out fear of the law. 

Texas a republic. — The better class of Americans in 
Texas saw that a strong government was needed to 
restrain the lawless men who had come among them. 
Without such a government neither life nor property was 
secure. But they felt that Mexico could never give them 
such a government. For this and other reasons, they 
organized a revolution and, under the leadership of Sam 
Houston, of Tennessee, gained their independence and set 
up the new republic of Texas. 

Annexation to the United States. — This was in 1836. 
The Texans hoped that their country would very soon 
become a part of the United States; for the little republic 
was not strong enough to hold its own against any of the 
great nations of the world. But Martin Van Buren, who 
succeeded Andrew Jackson as President, was opposed to its 
annexation; the matter was put off from year to year; 
and it was not until the presidential election in 1844, that 
the question was decided. At that election James K. Polk, 


302 


ROBERT E. LEE 


of Tennessee, was chosen President with the understand¬ 
ing that lie was in favor of the annexation of Texas. 
The Whigs with Henry Clay at their head were opposed to 
the measure, partly because they foresaw that it would 
make trouble between our country and Mexico. The 
planters of the South favored it, because Texas was well 



suited for cotton-raising, and if it should come into the 
Union as a slave state it would strengthen the power of 
the slaveholders. 

The dispute about boundaries. — Texas was accordingly 
brought into the Union, and one of the first things to 
do was to decide the location of its western boundary. 
Mexico said that it should be the Nueces River; the 
United States said that it should be the Rio Grande. The 






THE MEXICAN WAR 


303 


country between these rivers was without inhabitants; it 
was so wild and barren that no one thought it could ever 
be colonized; and yet neither Mexico nor the United 
States would consent to give it up. 

Beginning of the war. — President Polk sent an army 
under General Zachary Taylor to occupy the east bank of 
the Rio Grande. A Mexican army crossed the river. Two 
battles were fought, and the Mexicans were driven back 
with great loss. There was now no way to settle the 
question but by war. 

Lee in Mexico. — Captain Lee with his corps of engi¬ 
neers was sent first to the Rio Grande; but his stay there 
was short. Another American army under General Win¬ 
field Scott was dispatched by way of Vera Cruz to capture 
the city of Mexico, and Lee was assigned to a place on 
General Scott’s staff. 

Becomes a colonel. — We cannot follow him through 
all the fortunes of this war. It is enough to say that he 
distinguished himself more than once by Kis excellent 
judgment and his cool, determined courage. Although 
war was his profession, he was shocked by its barbarities. 
He wrote home to his boys, “ You have no idea what a 
horrible sight a battlefield is.” And yet he performed 
his duty bravely, desiring to put an end to the conflict 
as soon as possible. He was promoted and made a 
colonel in the army; and at the close of the war 
General Scott declared that “his own success in Mexico 
was largely due to the skill, valor, and undaunted cour¬ 
age of Robert E. Lee.” 


304 


ROBERT E. LEE 



Results of the Mexican War. — By this war the United 

States wrested from Mexico not only the disputed strip of 
land between the Nueces and the Rio Grande, but all 
that region now composing Utah, Nevada, and California, 
and most of New Mexico and Arizona, besides a part of 
Colorado and Wyoming. General Taylor, as one of the 
heroes of that war, was nominated by the Whigs for the 
presidency of the United States, and in 1848 was elected. 

III. THE GREAT CRISIS 

Another period of peace. — During the next twelve 
years, Colonel Lee, as a military officer, served the country 


Lee’s home at Arlington, near Alexandria 

in various capacities, — as chief of engineers, as superin¬ 
tendent of the Military Academy at West Point, and as 
cavalry officer. 








THE GREAT CRISIS 


305 


John Brown. — There was a class of persons in the 
North who hated slavery and wished to have it abolished 
at any cost. These persons were called abolitionists. In 
1859, one of them, whose name was John Brown, formed 
a desperate plan for freeing the negroes of the South. 
His project was to furnish them with arms from the 
United States arsenals, and to urge them to win their 
freedom by the slaughter of their masters and the de¬ 
struction of the slave power in the South. With a few 
followers he captured the arsenal at Harpers Ferry, in 
Virginia; but the slaves upon whom he relied to carry 
out his project made no effort to join him. 

Lee at Harpers Ferry. — Colonel Lee, who was then at 
home on furlough, was ordered to hasten with a battalion 
of marines to Harpers Ferry, to repel what was reported 
to be an invasion of Virginia by the North. The marines 
besieged John Brown and his men in the engine house of 
the arsenal. Those of the raiders who were not killed 
outright were soon made prisoners. John Brown was- 
tried, convicted, and hanged. 

Alarm in the South. — The people of the slave states 
were greatly alarmed by this attempt to bring about a 
negro insurrection. Wild rumors were set afloat concern¬ 
ing the intentions of the abolitionists in the North. Gov¬ 
ernor Wise, of Virginia, called for volunteers to defend the 
state from invasion, and numbers of excited men from all 
sections hastened to join the Virginian army. In the 
meanwhile, Colonel Lee returned to his regular duties and 
was soon with his own army corps, then stationed in Texas. 

barnes’s el. — 20 


306 


ROBERT E. LEE 



Misunderstandings. —When the time came for the 
next presidential election, there was great excitement 
in both the North and the South, all growing out 
of the question of slavery. The people of each 
section misunderstood those of the other. The majority 
of those living in the South saw no wrong in slavery. It 


Harpers Ferry 

had come down to them from their fathers ,* it had existed 
in their states since the earliest settlements. Their modes 
of life, their business, their social habits, were all influ¬ 
enced by it. They believed that it would be impossible to 
live without it. Recent events had persuaded them that 
the people of the North were determined to deprive them 






THE CIVIL WAR 


307 


of their slaves, to trample on their rights as citizens of 
the United States, and to rob them of their liberties. 

Election of Lincoln. — The result of the election made 
their fears still stronger. The man who had received the 
majority of electoral votes was Abraham Lincoln, of Illi¬ 
nois— a man unknown in the South, but who was said 
there to favor all kinds of harsh measures. The southern 
people feared that he would treat them unjustly and restrict 
slavery within the narrowest possible limits. 

Secession of the States. — The political leaders of the 
South were already prepared for this event. Some of them 
wanted to found a great southern republic, in which slavery 
should be one of the chief features; and they hoped to 
include in that republic not only the states of the South, but 
the territories won from Mexico, and even Mexico herself. 
Before the electoral votes were counted, South Carolina 
seceded from the Union. Other states, one after another, 
followed her lead. Within a few months a new govern¬ 
ment called the Confederate States of America was 
1861 set up with Jefferson Davis of Mississippi as its 
President. This confederation finally included eleven 
southern states: South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Ala¬ 
bama, Mississippi, Louisiana, Texas, Virginia, North Caro¬ 
lina, Tennessee, and Arkansas. 

IV. THE CIVIL WAR 

Lee and slavery. — Colonel Lee saw that nothing could 
now prevent a war between the states, and no man re¬ 
gretted it more than he. He returned to his home near 


308 


ROBERT E. LEE 


Alexandria, to await the progress of events. “ I cannot 
imagine a greater calamity,” he said, “ than the dissolution 
of the Union.” He declared that if he were the owner 
of all the negroes in the South, he would gladly yield 
them up for the preservation of peace. In fact, he did 
not approve of slavery. He had already freed the slaves 
that he had inherited from his father. 

The first shot. — The war began in April, 1861, by 
the troops of South Carolina firing upon Fort Sumter in 
Charleston harbor. A few days later Virginia joined the 
seceding states. Robert E. Lee had now to decide whether 
he would take part against his native state, his relatives, 
and his friends, or whether he would retire from the service 
of his country and be loyal to the South. 

States’ rights. — We have already learned that some of 
the founders of our government held to the idea that this 
country was not a single strong nation, made up of many 
states, but that it consisted of several small nations 
leagued together for the common welfare. They claimed 
that each of these small nations, or states, was an independ¬ 
ent commonwealth and might withdraw from the Union 
whenever its people thought best. In the North this idea 
gradually gave place to the present idea of one great gov¬ 
ernment. But in the South no such change of opinion 
took place. To a South Carolinian, South Carolina was 
his country, and he owed allegiance to her first of all. It 
was so in all the southern states; and the right of a state 
to act independently of any other power was not disputed. 
This is known as the doctrine of States’ Rights. 



THE CIVIL WAR 


309 


Lee loyal to Virginia. — Robert E. Lee had been taught 
as a child to be loyal to Virginia. When he grew to 
manhood he did not suffer his devotion to the United 
States to overshadow that loyalty. And so, when Virginia 
joined the Confederacy, he felt that he must resign his 
commission in the army and remain faithful to his state. 

Made commander of the army of Virginia. — He was 
appointed major general of the military forces of Virginia, 
and was asked to lead them 
in a war against the Union 
which he would so gladly 
have helped to preserve. 

He accepted the appoint¬ 
ment. “ Trusting in Al¬ 
mighty God and an approv¬ 
ing conscience,’ ’ he said, 

66 1 devote myself to the 
service of my native state, 
in whose behalf alone will 
I ever again draw my 
sword.” 

The war which was then 
beginning continued for 
four years. It was in many respects the most remarkable 
war ever known. To follow its course through those dis¬ 
tressing years, to name the great men who became conspicu¬ 
ous on this side or that, to describe in detail the various 
conflicts on land and sea, is not the purpose of this book. 
You will read of these in the larger histories. 









310 


ROBERT E. LEE 


Commander of the Confederate forces. — On the 13th 

of March, 1862, General Lee was appointed commander 
in chief of all the forces of the Confederate States. For 
three years he devoted all his energies to the great but 
hopeless task which he had undertaken, leaving nothing 
undone that could be done for the success of the southern 
cause. 

Surrender of the Confederate army. — At length, in 

April, 1865, at Appomattox Courthouse in Virginia, Lee 
surrendered his army to General U. S. Grant, the com¬ 
mander of the Union forces; and on that day the last 
hope of the Confederacy expired. 

“ My men,” said Lee to his soldiers, “ we have fought 
through the war together; I have done my best for you; 
my heart is too full to say more.” 

Results of the war. — The southern soldiers, u in faded, 
tattered uniforms, shoeless and weatherbeaten, but proud 
as when they first rushed to battle, returned to desolate 
fields, homes in some cases in ashes, blight, blast, and 
want on every side.” The terrible war had cost nearly 
a million of lives, besides countless millions of treasure. 
Slavery was destroyed. The South had lost its political 
power. The Union had been preserved. The question as 
to whether the United States is one great nation or a 
group of small nations was forever settled. 

General Lee retired to a quiet home near the Rapidan 
River in Virginia. He had been a soldier, in one capacity 
or another, for forty years. He was now for the first 
time a private citizen. 


THE CIVIL WAR 


311 


His last services. — He was not to remain long in 
retirement. Before the end of the year he was chosen 
president of Washington Col¬ 
lege at Lexington, Virginia. 

The remaining energies of 
his life were given to the 
upbuilding of that institution 
and to the promotion of edu¬ 
cation in the South. He died 
on the 12th of October, 1870. 

The singular uprightness of 
his character, no less than 
his grand abilities as com¬ 
mander, won for him the admiration of the North and the 
loving veneration of the South. To the people of Virginia 
his name and that of Washington will ever be linked 
together as of the two most illustrious citizens of their 
state. 

REVIEW 



Lee’s writing table 


Give an account of Henry Lee. What were the causes • of 
the war with Mexico ? Who was President of the United States 
during that war ? What did Colonel Lee think of the barbarities of 
war ? What was the result of the war with Mexico ? Why was 
John Brown’s plan for freeing the slaves not a wise one? What 
effect did his act have upon the people of the South ? What did 
the southern people think that Abraham Lincoln would try to do? 
Name the states that seceded from the Union. What did Colonel 
Lee think of the dissolution of the Union ? Why did he accept 
service as commander of the army of Virginia ? What were the 
results of the Civil War ? What great question was settled by it ? 





ABRAHAM LINCOLN 
AND THE SAVING OF THE UNION 
I. A BOY OF THE WEST 

His birth. — Abraham Lincoln was born in Kentucky, 
on the 12th of February, 1809. At that time Thomas 
Jefferson was just closing his second term as President of 
the United States. Robert E. Lee was then a child two 
years of age, being brought up in the midst of wealth 
and luxury in his father’s mansion by the Potomac. 

His childhood. — The parents of Abraham Lincoln were 
very poor. The home in which he was born was of the 
humblest sort, lacking even the commonest comforts. His 
childhood was not unlike the childhood of others brought 
up in the midst of poverty in the early West. He grew 
to be a very strong boy, able when quite young to do the 
work of a man. His mind was as active and strong 
as his body. He learned to read when a small child, his 
mother being his best teacher. The schools which he 
attended were of the poorest kind; and all his school¬ 
days put together would not make a twelve-month. 

In Indiana. — When he was about eight years old his 
parents moved to Spencer County, Indiana. It was then 
scarcely a year since Indiana had become a state. Land 
could be bought very cheap, and Abraham’s father thought 

312 


A BOY OF THE WEST 


813 


that life would be easier there than in Kentucky. But it 
required a great deal of hard work to open a farm in the 
midst of the woods. There were trees to be cut down, 
logs and brushwood to be burned, stumps and roots to be 
grubbed up, fences to be built, fields to be plowed; and in 
all this work Abraham Lincoln, boy though he was, was 
his father’s best helper. 

Life in the backwoods. -— The family lived as did most 
pioneer families in the backwoods of Indiana. Their bread 
was made of corn meal, their meat was chiefly the flesh 
of wild game from the woods. Pewter plates and wooden 
trenchers were used on the table. The drinking cups were 
of tin. There was no stove, and all the cooking was done 
on the hearth of the big fireplace. 

Young Abraham dressed like other boys of his age in 
the backwoods. On his head he wore a cap made from 
the skin of a squirrel or a raccoon. Instead of trousers 
of cloth, he wore buckskin breeches the legs of which were 
several inches too short. His shirt was of deerskin in 
winter and of homespun tow in summer. Stockings 
he never wore until he was a grown-up man. His shoes 
were of heavy cowskin and were worn only on Sundays 
and in very cold weather. No one who saw the lad in 
his uncouth apparel would have dreamed that he would 
become one of the most famous men in the world’s history. 

His education. — Perhaps the great secret of his suc¬ 
cess in life lay in the fact that in whatever position he 
was placed he always did his best. He was not satis¬ 
fied with the scanty instruction he received at school, and 


314 


ABRAHAM LINCOLN 


therefore he set about educating himself. Although books 
were scarce and hard to obtain, he read every one that 
he could get hold of. After working hard all day he 
would sit up late into the night, reading by the flick¬ 
ering light of a wood fire on the hearth of his father’s 
cabin. He borrowed every book that he could hear of 
in the neighborhood. 

His ideal hero. — One book that made a great impres¬ 
sion upon him was Weems’s “ Life of Washington.’’ He 
read the story many times. He carried it with him to the 
field and read it in the intervals of work. Washington 
was his ideal hero, the one great man whom he admired 
above all others. Why could not he model his own life 
after that of the Father of his Country ? Why could not 
he also be a doer of noble deeds and a benefactor of man¬ 
kind ? He might never be President, but he could make 
himself worthy of that great honor. 

II. EARLY MANHOOD 

In Illinois. — In the summer after Abraham Lincoln’s 
twenty-first birthday his father sold the farm in Indiana, 
and the whole family removed to Illinois. They settled 
on a tract of wild prairie land near the town of Decatur 
and began the making of a new home. Abraham stayed 
with the family until they were well settled again; he 
helped his father fence his land and plant his first crop 
of corn. Then he went out to win his way in the world. 

All kinds of work. — He did not hesitate to do any 
kind of labor that came in his way. He split rails and 


EARLY MANHOOD 


315 



built fences; he piloted a flatboat down the Mississippi; 
he served as clerk and manager of a little store in the 
village of New Salem near Springfield. No matter what 
he undertook to do he always did it honestly and well. 

Indians in Illinois. 

— Illinois was still very 
thinly settled. Most of 
the people lived in the 
middle section. In the 
northern and southern 
parts there were broad 
stretches of wild prairie 
lands and timber groves 
where no habitation 
had yet been built. 

In the Rock River val¬ 
ley in the northwest 
corner of the state, a 
tribe of Indians called 
the Sacs had lived for 
nearly a century. Re¬ 
cently, however, the 
United States govern¬ 
ment had bought their lands, and they had been removed 
to a reservation west of the Mississippi. But the Sacs 
did not like their new homes, and longed to go back to 
the hunting grounds of their fathers. 

Black Hawk's war.--In 1832, under the leadership of 
a warrior called Black Hawk, a number of the Sacs re- 


“He served as clerk and manager of a 
little store” 






316 


ABRAHAM LINCOLN 


crossed the Mississippi. They came, they said, to plant 
corn in their old cornfields; but they soon began killing 
the white settlers and burning their homes. The news 
of these savage acts caused great alarm throughout the 
state, and the governor called for volunteers to help drive 
the Indians back across the Mississippi. 



They soon began killing the white settlers” 


Captain Lincoln. — Among the young men who re¬ 
sponded to this call was Abraham Lincoln. His company 
elected him captain — an honor which was more gratifying 
to him than any other that he ever received. The Indians, 
however, had already suffered a crushing defeat, and 
Captain Lincoln’s company arrived in the Eock Eiver 
region too late to have any share in the fighting. In a 



IN POLITICS 


317 


few weeks the war came to an end, the state volunteers 
were mustered out, and Lincoln returned to New Salem. 

Reading law. —Since boyhood it had been Lincoln’s 
ambition to become a lawyer; and now, while earning his 
living by doing whatever came in his way, he devoted all 
his spare time to the study of law. He bought a second¬ 
hand copy of Blackstone’s Commentaries at auction, and 
studied it so diligently that in a few weeks he had mastered 
all its most important contents. He got possession of an 
old form-book, and spent his evenings drawing up con¬ 
tracts, deeds, and other kinds of legal documents. Soon 
he began to practice law in a small way before justices 
of the peace and country juries. 

In the legislature. — The people of his district were so 
pleased with his energy and good common sense that they 
chose him to represent them in the state legislature; and 
so well did he answer their expectations that they con¬ 
tinued to reelect him until he had served eight years. In 
the meanwhile he removed to Springfield, where he became 
established as a lawyer with a small but increasing practice. 

III. IN POLITICS 

Whigs and Democrats. — In politics at that time every 
man was either a Democrat or a Whig. The Democratic 
party was in most respects the same as the old Democratic- 
Republican party of which Thomas Jefferson was the 
founder. The Whig party was a new one composed of those 
who were dissatisfied with the President, Andrew Jackson. 
The first leaders of the Whig party were Daniel Webster, 


318 


ABRAHAM LINCOLN 


Henry Clay, and John C. Calhoun, three of the ablest 
statesmen ever known in our country. These three men 
held very opposite opinions on many questions., and were 
united only in their opposition to the Democratic party. 
Abraham Lincoln was a Whig and a great admirer of 
Henry Clay, and he soon became a leader of his party 
in Illinois. 

An exciting campaign. — The presidential campaign of 
1840 was one of the most famous in our history. The 
Democratic candidate was Martin Van Buren, who had 
succeeded Andrew Jackson in 1837 and was then nearing 
the end of his term as President. The Whig candidate w r as 
William Henry Harrison, famous as having been the first 
governor of Indiana Territory, and as having defeated the 
Indians at Tippecanoe. John Tyler of Virginia was nomi¬ 
nated on the same ticket for Vice President. 

The log cabin. — Some Democrats had spoken sneer- 
ingly of General Harrison as being the candidate of the 
West, where people lived in log cabins and drank hard 
cider. The Whigs at once adopted the log cabin as the 
emblem of their party. In every city and town and 
village, wherever that party held a political meeting, a 
log cabin was exhibited. On one side of the low door 
a coonskin was nailed to the logs; on the other stood 
a barrel of cider. The rallying cry of the party was 
u Tippecanoe and Tyler too!” For weeks before the 
election, business of all kinds was at a standstill. Farmers 
left their plows, merchants closed their doors, everybody 
joined in the excitement of the campaign. 


IN POLITICS 


319 



At the election the Whigs were the victors, and Gen¬ 
eral Harrison was elected President. Scarcely, however, 
had he taken his place in the White House before he 
fell ill, and just one month after his inauguration he 
died. John Tyler, who as Vice President succeeded him, 


“A log cabin was exhibited” 

did not follow out the wishes of the party to whom he 
owed his election. There was soon an open quarrel 
between the President and the Whig members of Con¬ 
gress, and it appeared as though their late victory had 
been in vain. 

Annexation of Texas. — During Tyler’s administration 
the question of the annexation of Texas came before the 
country for solution. It was answered at the next general 






S20 


ABRAHAM LINCOLN 


election by the choice of James K. Polk as President. Polk 
was the candidate of the Democratic party, and he 
was pledged to the admission of Texas. The Whig 
candidate was Henry Clay, and to him Abraham Lincoln 
gave his earnest support. 

IV. CONGRESSMAN AND LAWYER 

Lincoln in Congress. — Abraham Lincoln was now so 
well known as a political leader that he was sent to Con¬ 
gress as the representative of his district. He was the 
only Whig from Illinois. In Congress there were then 
many notable men. Among those in the House was 
John Quincy Adams, who had been the sixth President 
of the United States. Among those in the Senate were 
Daniel Webster of Massachusetts, John C. Calhoun of 
South Carolina, and Jefferson Davis of Mississippi. 

His opinions about slavery. — Although Mr. Lincoln 
did not distinguish himself in Congress, he was more 
active than is usual with new members. He made sev¬ 
eral speeches, and proposed a bill for the gradual abolition 
of slavery in the District of Columbia. He believed that 
slavery was harmful to the nation; and while he did not 
think it could be wholly done away with, yet he wished 
to prevent its becoming a still greater evil. 

He returns to the practice of law. —In 1848 the Whig 
party was again victorious and Zachary Taylor, one of the 
heroes of the Mexican War, was elected to the presidency. 
When Mr. Lincoln’s term in Congress expired he hoped 
that his services to the party would be recognized and 


KANSAS AND NEBRASKA 


321 


that the President would appoint him to some public 
office. But in this he was disappointed. He therefore 
returned to Springfield, and for the next eight years 
devoted himself quietly to the practice of law. 

The Free Soil party.—At about this time a new 
political party was formed called the Free Soil party. Its 
rallying cry was “ No more slave states and no slave 
territories.’' It began with but few members, but was 
soon joined by many Whigs and northern Democrats who 
were opposed to the spread of slavery. 

Soon after this the great discussion began concerning 
the admission of California as a free state. As we have 
already learned, it was brought to an end through the 
efforts of Henry Clay, and the famous Compromise of 
1850 was adopted. In the meanwhile President Taylor 
died, and Millard Fillmore, the Vice President, succeeded 
him as the thirteenth President. 

Election of President Pierce. — In 1852 a new Presi¬ 
dent was to be chosen. The Whigs proposed another hero 
of the Mexican War, General Winfield Scott. The Demo¬ 
crats named Franklin Pierce of New Hampshire. Abra¬ 
ham Lincoln did all that he could to secure the success 
of the Whigs. But Mr. Pierce was elected. 

V. KANSAS AND NEBRASKA 

West of the states of Missouri and Iowa was a bound¬ 
less extent of prairie land— fertile plains, where bands 
of wild Indians and immense herds of buffaloes roamed 
at will. The War Department of the United States 

barnes’s el. — 21 


322 


ABRAHAM LINCOLN 



Slave states and free states in 1852 


suggested that all that splendid region should be ceded 
to the Indians to be held by them and used as hunting 
grounds “ as long as the grass should grow.” 

Stephen A. Douglas, a Democratic senator from Illinois, 
proposed another plan. He proposed that it should be 
divided into territories, each with some form of govern¬ 
ment, and that people in the states should be encouraged 
to buy lands and make their homes there. Then at once 
arose the same old troublesome question as to whether 
slavery should be admitted into such territories. 

Slavery in the territories. — The North said that 
that question had been settled by the Missouri Compro¬ 
mise ; that the entire region was north of the line fixed 
upon by that compromise, and therefore no slavery should 











KANSAS AND NEBRASKA 


823 


exist there. The South replied that California, a part of 
which is farther south than that line, had been made a 
free state, contrary to the spirit of the Missouri Com¬ 
promise, and consequently the compromise was null and 
void: since the South had conceded California to the 
North, why should not the North concede some part of 
these western territories to the South ? 

Kansas-Nebraska. — Henry Clay, the Great Pacificator, 
was dead, and there was no one to propose a new compro¬ 
mise. But Stephen A. Douglas conceived the plan of 
leaving the whole matter to the people who should settle 
in the territories. “ The people are the sovereigns,” he 
said. Through his influence, therefore, a bill was passed 
by Congress which provided for the organization of a 
large portion of the wild western country into two terri¬ 
tories, Kansas and Nebraska. The bill further declared 
that the Missouri Compromise was void, and that the 
people in each territory should decide whether it should 
become a slave state or a free state. 

War in Kansas. — The excitement throughout the coun¬ 
try became intense. From New England and other northern 
states great numbers of emigrants hurried to Kansas in 
order to give their votes for freedom. From Missouri 
and the South almost as many southern men rushed 
into the same territory in order to use their influ¬ 
ence for slavery. Very soon there was actual war between 
the “ free-state ” men and the “ pro-slave ” men in the ter¬ 
ritory. Thinking people in all parts of the country saw 
that a great crisis was at hand. 


824 


ABRAHAM LINCOLN 


The Republican party. — At this time a new political 

party was organized. It was composed of the old Free 
Soil party together with such Whigs and Democrats as 
were opposed to the further extension of slavery. It was 
called the Republican party, and in Illinois Abraham 
Lincoln was one of its most influential leaders. 

The Democrats triumphant. — In June, 1856, the Re¬ 
publican party nominated John C. Fremont for President. 
But it was not strong enough to carry the election that 
year* Stephen A. Douglas had hoped to be the nominee 
of the Democratic party; but his course in proposing the 
Kansas-Nebraska bill had caused many of his friends to 
desert him. He failed in his ambition, and James 
Buchanan, of Pennsylvania, was nominated and elected 
the fifteenth President of the United States. 

VI. LINCOLN AND DOUGLAS 

A famous debate. — Stephen A. Douglas had served two 
terms in the Senate of the United States and was a candi- 
date for reelection to a third term. The Republi- 

1858 f T1r . , 

cans ot Illinois selected Abraham Lincoln as their 
candidate for the same position. The part which Douglas 
had taken in reopening the troublesome question of 
slavery in the territories had made him many enemies, 
and he found it necessary to defend himself before the 
people of his state. Lincoln challenged him to debate in 
public the great questions of the day. Douglas accepted 
the challenge, and the two men canvassed the state 
together, making speeches in many places. 


LINCOLN AND DOUGLAS 


325 


Some points in the debate. — “I believe/’ said Mr. 
Lincoln, “ that this government cannot endure perma¬ 
nently half slave and half free. It will become all one 
thing or all the other.” 

“ I care not/’ said Mr. Douglas, “ whether slavery is 
voted in or out of the territories. Slavery is an existing 
fact, and wherever climate and other conditions make slave 
property desirable, there a slave law will be enacted.” 

Mr. Lincoln answered him by reference to the Declara¬ 
tion of Independence. “ The signers of that declaration 
said that all men are created equal, and are endowed by 
their Creator with the right to life, liberty, and the pur¬ 
suit of happiness. ... I beseech you, do not destroy 
that immortal emblem of humanity, the Declaration of 
Independence.” 

The result. — The two candidates went from town to 
town, debating the great question before crowds of inter¬ 
ested listeners. Their speeches were printed, and people in 
all parts of the country read them. Mr. Douglas was already 
famous as a leader of the Democratic party, and it was 
quite generally believed that he would be the next Presi¬ 
dent. But who was this man Lincoln, who so boldly 
answered his arguments and more than once defeated him 
in debate ? Outside of Illinois his name had scarcely 
been heard. 

Douglas, as most people expected, w^as returned to the 
Senate. Lincoln, although defeated, had made himself 
known throughout the North as a man of great talents 
and strong convictions. 


326 


ABRAHAM LINCOLN 


VII. THE SIXTEENTH PRESIDENT 


In i860 there were four candidates for the presidency. 

The Democratic party was divided, and while one branch 
nominated Stephen A. Douglas, the other, which repre¬ 
sented the dissatisfied slaveholders of the South, named 
John C. Breckenridge of Kentucky. The Union party, 
which included those of the Whigs who wished to say 
nothing about slavery, nominated John Bell of Tennessee. 
The Republican party nominated Abraham Lincoln. 

The campaign was carried on with much vigor; but 
the Democrats, being divided, could hope for nothing 


but defeat. Lincoln was 
elected. 



The people of the 
South, as we have already 
seen, were alarmed by the 
results of this election. 
One state after another 
seceded from the Union. 
The Confederate States of 
America was organized. 


Inauguration. —When 
Lincoln was inaugurated 
he said to the southern 


The sixteenth President 


people: “ In your hands, my dissatisfied countrymen, and 
not in mine, is the momentous issue of civil war. Your 
government will not assail you. You can have no con¬ 
flict without being yourselves the aggressors. You have 


THE SIXTEENTH PRESIDENT 


327 


no oath, registered in heaven to destroy the government; 
while I shall have the most solemn one to protect and 
defend it.” 

The seceding states demanded that onr government 
should give up all the forts, arsenals, and other public 
buildings within their limits. President Lincoln answered 
that no state could withdraw from the Union without the 
consent of the people of the United States, and that there¬ 
fore the states of the South were still parts of this country 
and were not entitled to any portion of the public property 
of the general government. The seceded states then 
began to take possession of the southern forts by force. 

War begins. — In April a demand was made for the 
surrender of Fort Sumter, in Charleston harbor. When 
this demand was refused, the fort was fired upon and 
captured by soldiers of South Carolina. This was the 
beginning of the war. President Lincoln issued a call 
for seventy-five thousand volunteers to serve in the army 
for three months ; and both sides prepared for the contest. 

At first it was thought that the war would be very 
brief. Its object was neither to defend nor to destroy 
slavery, although slavery had been its real cause. Presi¬ 
dent Lincoln and the people of the North were deter¬ 
mined to preserve the Union. The people of the South 
with Jefferson Davis, the president of the Confederacy, 
were equally determined to defend the rights of their 
native states and to set up an independent government of 
their own. The northern soldiers boasted that it would be 
only a “ before-breakfast affair ” to force the secessionists 


328 


ABRAHAM LINCOLN 


to beg for peace. The southern volunteers declared that 
the “ Yankees ” would not fight, and that one Confederate 
in arms would be a match for five northern soldiers. But 
as the war went on, both parties found that they had 
engaged in a terrible conflict, and all boasting ceased. 

Lincoln’s object. — The antislavery people urged Lin¬ 
coln to declare the slaves free. “ Why not strike at the 
root of the trouble ?” they asked. 

He answered, “My paramount object is to save the 
Union, and not either to save or destroy slavery. If I 
could save the Union without freeing any slaves, I would 
do it. If I could save it by freeing all the slaves, I would 
do it. If I could save it by freeing- some and leaving 
others alone, I would also do that.” 

The Emancipation Proclamation. — At last, however, 
when he found that the Union could not otherwise be 
saved, he made up his mind to take the decisive step. 
On New Year’s Day, 1863, he issued a proclamation 
declaring that the slaves, in all the states or parts of 
states then in rebellion, should be set at liberty. By this 
proclamation freedom was declared to more than two mil¬ 
lions of colored people in the South. It was the first actual 
movement toward the ending of human bondage in the 
United States. But slavery was not finally done away 
with until the adoption of the Thirteenth Amendment to 
the Constitution more than two years afterward. 

The war went on. — There were calls for more men 
and more men, until nearly a million soldiers were engaged 
on each side. The conflict was the most tremendous the 



THE SIXTEENTH PRESIDENT 529 

world has ever known. It reached a turning point, how¬ 
ever, in the defeat of Lee’s army at Gettysburg in July, 
that same year; and then the cause of the Confederate 
States began to w^ane. The resources of the South were 
gradually exhausted. Slowly, very slowly, the forces that 


Lincoln reading the Emancipation Proclamation to his cabinet 

were battling for the Union gained one point of advantage 
after another until victory was assured. 

Lincoln reelected. — At the close of Mr. Lincoln’s first 
term he was again elected. The war was then almost ended, 
but he did not boast of what had been done. He 
said, u With malice toward none, with charity for 
all, with firmness in the right as God gives us to see the 
right, let us strive on to finish the work we are in; to 







330 


ABRAHAM LINCOLN 


bind up the nation’s wounds; to care for him who shall 
have borne the battle, and for his widow and his orphan 
— to do all which may achieve and cherish a just and last¬ 
ing peace among ourselves and with all nations.” 

Peace. — On the 9th of April the Confederate army 
under General Lee surrendered to General Grant, and 
the war was at an end. Abraham Lincoln’s work was 
done. Five days later, on the evening of Good Friday, 
while attending a play at a theater in Washington, he 
was shot by an assassin. Kind arms carried him to a 



View of the battlefield of Gettysburg 

private house near by; but no skill could save his life. 
At twenty minutes past seven, on the morning of the 
15th, he died. 

The whole nation wept for him. He had even won 
the affections of the people of the South; and they, as 
well as their late foes in the North, bowed themselves in 




THE SIXTEENTH PRESIDENT 


331 


grief. Other nations joined in mourning for the great 
man who had passed away. Never in the world had there 
been such sincere and universal manifestations of sorrow. 

REVIEW 

Compare the boyhood of Lincoln with that of Washington. Name 
some of the qualities of his character which made it possible for him 
to become a great man. What famous men were at one time the 
leaders of the Whig party ? Tell about the famous campaign of 
1840. Name in order all the presidents from Washington to Wil¬ 
liam H. Harrison. What great question was settled by the election 
of Polk in 1844 ? Which party was victorious in 1848, and who was 
elected President ? What was the rallying cry of the Pree Soil party ? 
What principle did Stephen A. Douglas advocate ? Why were the 
people of the North opposed to the Kansas-Nebraska bill? What 
were the causes of the troubles in Kansas? Name in order all the 
Presidents from William H. Harrison to Lincoln. Why did the 
southern states secede from the Union ? When did President 
Lincoln issue his first call for soldiers ? Why did not Lincoln try 
to destroy slavery at once ? Did his emancipation proclamation set 
all the slaves free ? Why not ? What was the turning point in the 
Civil War ? When did the war come to an end ? What did the 
South lose by it ? 


ULYSSES S. GRANT 

AND THE GREAT CIVIL WAR 
I. PREPARATION FOR A GREAT CAREER 

United States Military Academy. — At West Point on 
the Hudson River is one of the most famous schools in 
America. It is called the United States Military Acad¬ 
emy and is maintained by our government for the purpose 
of training young men in the art of war. Many of the 
most distinguished soldiers of our country were educated 
there. General Robert E. Lee, as we have already 
learned, was once the superintendent of the Academy. 
The students are called cadets. Each congressional dis¬ 
trict in the United States may send two young men to 
the Academy, but these must be chosen and recommended 
by the congressman of the district. The course of study 
is by no means easy; but every cadet who finishes it and 
graduates receives a commission, usually as a lieutenant, 
in the United States army. 

Cadet U. S. Grant. — In 1839 a young man from Ohio 
whose name was Hiram Ulysses Grant was admitted into 
the Academy. Through some mistake he was enrolled as 
Ulysses Simpson Grant, and by that name he was always 
known thereafter. He was only seventeen years of age 


PREPARATION FOR A GREAT CAREER 


333 


at the time of his entrance, and not a very ambitious stu¬ 
dent. During his four years’ stay at the Academy he stood 
well in mathematics and was the best horseman at West 
Point; but otherwise he did nothing to distinguish him¬ 
self. When he gradu¬ 
ated he stood a little 
below the middle of 
his class. 

In Texas.—At the 

age of twenty-three 
young Grant received 
his commission as 
second lieutenant in 
the army of the United 
States. V ery soon 
afterward he was sent 
with his regiment to 
Texas. That was in 
1845, just before the 

beginning of the Mex- « The best horseman at West Point ” 

ican War. General 

Taylor was already in the neighborhood of the Rio 
Grande, prepared to prevent the Mexicans from gaining a 
foothold on the east side of that river. 

In Mexico. — The war began almost immediately. 
Lieutenant Grant was in several of the earlier battles. At 
Monterey, where the Americans gained a great victory, 
he distinguished himself for bravery. His regiment was 
soon sent to Vera Cruz to join General Scott in his march 





334 


ULYSSES S. GRANT 


to the city of Mexico. The army was obliged to fight its 
way across the country, and Lieutenant Grant had his 
courage tested many times. But he acquitted himself so 
well that he received the personal thanks of his superior 
officers, and was promoted to be first lieutenant. Major 
Robert E. Lee, of Virginia, who was one of General Scott’s 
aids in that famous march, made special mention of him 
in his report. “ Lieutenant Grant,” he wrote, “ behaved 
with distinguished gallantry.” 

Captain Grant.—After the capture of the city of 
Mexico by our troops there was not much more fighting 
to be done. Grant’s regiment remained there until peace 
was declared and the army was withdrawn. During the 
next six or seven years the young lieutenant was stationed 
at various places. He was now on the Gulf coast, now by 
the Great Lakes, and finally in California and Oregon. 
In 1853, when he was thirty-one years old, he became the 
captain of his company, but a year later he resigned his 
commission and settled on a farm in Missouri. 

Failures in business. — Captain Grant knew nothing 
about farming, and at the end of a year he found him¬ 
self deeply in debt. He gave up the farm and went to 
St. Louis. There seemed to be nothing that the man 
could do. After trying various ways of making a living, 
and succeeding in none, he went to Galena, Illinois, and 
became a clerk in a leather store which his father owned 
there. His salary for the first year was to be only $800. 
He entered upon his new work only a few weeks before 
the nomination of Abraham Lincoln for the presidency. 


THE FIRST YEARS OF THE WAR 


385 


n. THE FIRST YEARS OF THE WAR 

The volunteers. —When Fort Sumter was fired upon by 
the soldiers of the South, and President Lincoln issued his 
call for seventy-five thousand volunteers, the whole country 
was aroused. In every city and village 
throughout the North men hastened to 
obey the call. In the town of Galena 
a company was quickly formed. Cap¬ 
tain Grant gave up his place in the 
leather store in order to drill the vol¬ 
unteers and get them ready for service. 

“ The United States/’ he said, “ edu¬ 
cated me for the army. As a soldier 
I have served my country through one 
war, and I am ready now to serve her 
through another.” 

In Missouri.—The governor of Illi¬ 
nois gave him a commission as colonel of 
the Twenty-first Regiment of that state. 

Little time could be taken for preparation. The 
regiment was at once ordered to Missouri to guard 
the railroads and prevent an uprising among the slave¬ 
holders. Colonel Grant drilled his men while marching. 
He was always on the move. He left nothing undone; 
he did nothing by halves. His ability as a military 
leader soon became known to his superiors. He was made 
brigadier general, and was placed in command of all the 
Union forces in southeastern Missouri. 



Union volunteer 


336 


ULYSSES S. GRANT 


First victories. — The Confederates were already mov¬ 
ing toward Missouri and Kentucky, with the intention 
of winning both of these states to the southern cause. 
They began to fortify the islands in the Mississippi, 


and stretched a line of defenses 
eastward across Tennessee. Gen¬ 
eral Grant saw that he must drive 
them from these positions before 
they, had time to strengthen them 
with more troops and other fortifi¬ 
cations. His movements were so 
rapid that the Confederates could 
do but little to resist him. One 
strong position after another was 
taken by his army. The southern 
leaders, instead of marching their 
forces farther north, were obliged to 
defend the ground which they had 
already won. 



Confederate volunteer 


“ Unconditional surrender.’’ — 


Fort Donelson, on the Cumberland River, covered the 
approach to Nashville and central Tennessee. It was 
held by more than twenty thousand Confederate soldiers. 
Grant saw that until this point should be taken and held 
by Union forces it would be hard to gain any further 
advantages in that direction. He therefore lost no time 
in marching against it. He besieged Fort Donelson, and 
for three days the battle raged fiercely around it. General 
Buckner, who had been with Grant in Mexico when both 


THE FIRST YEARS OF THE WAR 


337 


were young men, was in command of the fort. He knew 
that he was contending with a person of uncommon 
pluck and perseverance. He asked for terms of surrender. 
General Grant’s answer was short and decided: “ No 
terms other than an unconditional and immediate sur¬ 
render can be accepted. I propose to move immediately 
upon your works.” Buckner surrendered without delay. 

This was the first important victory that the Union 
armies had gained. The plans of the Confederates were 
thwarted; their lines of defenses were broken. The name 
of u Unconditional Surrender ” Grant at once became fa¬ 
mous throughout the country, and the victorious hero was 
rewarded by being made major general of volunteers. 

Other successes. — The capture of Fort Donelson was 
followed by other victories. At Corinth, Mississippi, and 
at other important points, terrible battles were fought. 
General Grant was made commander of the department 
of the Tennessee, with headquarters at Corinth. Union 
troops and gunboats moved down the Mississippi, captur¬ 
ing every place of importance north of Vicksburg. Com¬ 
modore Farragut had seized the forts at the mouth of the 
great river, had ascended to New Orleans, and after bom¬ 
barding that city, had received its surrender. 

Vicksburg. — General Grant understood what great 
advantage it would be to the Union cause if he could gain 
complete control of the Mississippi. The Confederacy 
would then be cut into two parts and its power greatly 
weakened. He therefore marched against Vicksburg, one 
of the last of the Confederate strongholds on the river, 

BARNES’S BE. —23 


338 


ULYSSES S. GRANT 



The city stands on a high bluff overlooking the stream, 
and it was so strongly fortified that it seemed safe from 
any attack. 

Other men would have been daunted by the difficul¬ 
ties which lay in the way, but General Grant persevered. 
After months of labor and disappointment he at length 


In the trenches at Vicksburg 

succeeded in surrounding the city with his forces. Supplies 
were cut off from those within. The Confederate soldiers 
were unable to escape. Finally, on the 4th of July, 1865, 
the place was surrendered unconditionally. 

Chattanooga. — It was plain now that of all the Union 
generals in the West, Ulysses S. Grant was the ablest, as 
he had been the most successful. He was therefore pro- 



THE LAST YEARS OF THE WAR 339 

moted to the command of the military division of the 
Mississippi, which really included all the United States 
forces west of the Alleghanies. His next great victory 
was won at Chattanooga. There, after a long and deter¬ 
mined struggle, the Confederate lines were broken and the 
army was forced to withdraw from the state. 

III. THE LAST YEARS OF THE WAR 

Promoted. — Congress gave to Grant the title of 
lieutenant general, and ordered that a gold medal should 
be presented to him in commemoration of his great 
achievements. Soon afterward, President Lincoln gave 
him a commission to be commander of all the armies of 
the United States. General Sherman took charge of affairs 
in the West, while Grant at the head of the army of the 
Potomac marched against Lee and his army in Virginia. 

Pluck and perseverance. — The last battles, while at¬ 
tempting to reach Richmond, were among the most terrible 
in the war. The loss of life was very great on both sides, 
and the Union army met with many checks and discour¬ 
agements. Men with less determination than Grant said 
that he had undertaken too much, and that he ought to 
give it up and try some other plan. But he answered, “ I 
propose to fight it out on this line if it takes all summer.” 

Sherman’s march. — It did take all summer, and all 
winter too, but the dauntless commander would not give 
up. General Sherman, having dispersed the Confederates 
in the West, began a great march from the mountains to 
the sea. Through Georgia and the Carolinas he led his 


340 


ULYSSES S. GRANT 


victorious army, burning bridges and tearing up railroads 
as he went. A strip of country sixty miles wide was laid 
waste, and everything that could be of any use to the 
Confederate cause was destroyed. The South had no more 
resources with which to carry on the war. The end of 
the terrible struggle was at hand. 

The surrender of Lee. — On the night of the 2 d of 
April, 1865, General Lee with his army left Richmond 



Farmhouse where surrender was arranged 


and began a hasty retreat toward the southwest. Grant 
followed. The Confederates were overtaken and sur¬ 
rounded near Appomattox Courthouse. They were no 
longer able to make any resistance. 

On the 9th of April the two generals met at a farm¬ 
house to arrange for the surrender. The terms were soon 
agreed upon. General Grant made them as easy as he 
could. The men who had fought so long and lost all for 
their beloved South were not held as prisoners. They 













RECONSTRUCTION 


341 


were permitted to go to their homes on the promise never 
again to bear arms against the United States. Those who 
had horses were allowed to keep them. “ They will need 
the poor beasts to help them on their farms,” said Grant. 
In every word and act he tried to spare the feelings of his 
fallen foes. 

Thus the great war between the states came to an end. 

IV. RECONSTRUCTION 

Troublesome questions. — Upon the death of Abraham 
Lincoln, Andrew Johnson, the Vice President, became 
President of the United States. Although the war was 
ended, the great problems to which it had given rise were 
yet to be adjusted. What was to be done with the states 
that had seceded from the Union? Were they still states, 
and should they be permitted to resume their former places 
in the Union and send representatives and senators to 
Congress ? 

President Johnson, like Lincoln, held that no state 
could withdraw from the Union without the consent of 
the people of the United States. The southern states, he 
said, were therefore still in the Union, notwithstanding 
their acts of secession, and, this being so, they were en¬ 
titled to representation. Congress, he argued, could not 
impose laws upon such of the southern people as had 
remained loyal to the Union unless those people were given 
an opportunity to share in the making of such laws. 

Congress and the President. — But Congress decided 
differently. It declared that the states by their own acts 


342 


ULYSSES S. GRANT 


had lost their rights in the Union, and that they should 
not be restored to their former places until they had com¬ 
plied with certain conditions. There was thus a disa¬ 
greement between the President and Congress, and this 
soon deepened into a bitter quarrel. The House of Repre¬ 
sentatives passed a resolution for the impeachment of the 
President and his removal from office ; but when he was 
tried before the Senate he was not convicted. 

What the states were required to do. — What were the 
conditions which Congress imposed upon the southern 
states ? The most important were these: They must 
agree that no part of the debts incurred by the Confed¬ 
erate States should ever be paid by the United States; 
and they must accept certain amendments to the Consti¬ 
tution, one prohibiting slavery in every part of the United 
States, and another giving to the negroes the same public 
privileges as white people. 

Slavery. — But had not Abraham Lincoln already put 
an ehd to slavery ? He had not. His famous proclamation 
had given freedom to those slaves only who were within the 
regions actually in rebellion on the 1st of January, 1863. 
It did not forbid the people of the South from afterward 
acquiring and holding slaves. It did not apply in any 
way to the slaves in the loyal states of Delaware, Mary¬ 
land, West Virginia, Kentucky, and Missouri, nor to those 
in some other parts of the South where the authority of 
the Union had been restored. Slavery was not fully and 
finally abolished until the Thirteenth Amendment to the 
Constitution went into force on the 18th of December, 1865. 


THE END OF A GREAT CAREER 


343 


V. THE END OF A GREAT CAREER 

President Grant. — At the close of the war General 
Grant was the most popular man in the country. The 
people of the North could 
not do enough to show their 
appreciation of the man who 
had led the Union armies to 
victory and had conquered a 
lasting peace for the country. 

When the time drew near 
for another presidential elec¬ 
tion the Republican party 
nominated him as their can¬ 
didate. He was elected by a 
very large majority, and on 
the 4th of March, 1869, was 
inaugurated as the eighteenth 
President of the United States. 

Prosperity. — As time went on, the affairs of the 
country improved. The jealousies of the North and 
the South began to disappear. Prosperity smiled on all 
the land. President Grant served his people so well 
during his first term that he was reelected. His second 
term was equally successful, and there were many who 
insisted that he should be chosen a third time. He 
was not again nominated, however, but was succeeded 
in 1877 by Rutherford B. Hayes, of Ohio. 

The end. — After the close of his second term General 



The eighteenth President 


344 


ULYSSES S. GRANT 


Grant made a tour round the world. He visited many 
of the most important countries in Europe and Asia, and 
was received with great honor by their rulers. When he 
returned to America he settled in New York, where he 
lived for some time like any other private citizen. But 

his last years were 
clouded with trou¬ 
ble. Much of the 
fortune which he 
had acquired while 
in public life was 
lost through the 
dishonesty of men 
in whom he had 
confided. He had 
trouble with his 
throat, and this 
developed into an incurable disease. At length on the 
23d of July, 1885, he died. 

His body now rests in a magnificent tomb in Riverside 
Park by the banks of the Hudson. His memory will ever 
be honored by the grateful people of a united country. 

REVIEW 

Why does the United States maintain the Military Academy at 
West Point? Name two famous men who were educated there. 
When did the civil war begin ? What were its causes ? What were 
the most important victories gained by General Grant in the W T est? 
Why was the control of the Mississippi River so important to the 
Confederates ? What was one of the chief results of the war ? 






william McKinley 

AND THE EXPANSION OF THE NATION 
I. FROM PRIVATE TO MAJOR 

At the Sparrow Inn. — One evening in June, 1861, an 
excited company of men and boys was gathered at the 
Sparrow Inn, in the little village of Poland, Ohio. Every 
countenance wore a serious, determined look, showing 
that the meeting was for no idle purpose. One man who 
seemed to be well known to all arose and made a speech. 
“ Our country’s flag has been shot at,” he said. “ It has 
been trailed in the dust by those who should defend it, 
dishonored by those who ought to cherish and love it. 
Who will be the first to volunteer to defend it ? ” 

The volunteers.—Among the company present there 
was very little hesitation. One by one, men and grown-up 
boys went forward and pledged themselves to give the next 
three years of their lives to their country. Almost the 
first was a slim, gray-eyed youth of nineteen, who gave his 
name as William McKinley, Jr. Everybody knew young 
McKinley. He was at that time a clerk in the village post 
office. He was a teacher in the Methodist Sunday School. 
He had been a pupil in the academy at Poland, and he had 
the reputation of being a great student. 

345 


346 


william McKinley 



With the rest who had pledged themselves that night, 
young McKinley went without delay to Columbus, and was 
there formally enlisted as a private in the Twenty-third 
Regiment of Ohio volunteers. One of the officers in that 
regiment was Rutherford B. Hayes, who, sixteen years 
later, became the nineteenth President of the United States. 

The Twenty-third Ohio was one of the most famous regi¬ 
ments in the war; and when Mr. Hayes was advanced to 


“Formally enlisted as a private” 

its command he selected William McKinley to be a mem¬ 
ber of his staff. Before the end of a year McKinley 
received his first actual promotion by being chosen com¬ 
missary sergeant for his company. Other promotions 





FROM PRIVATE TO MAJOR 


347 



followed in order, and finally he received, direct from 
President Lincoln, a commission as brevet major “for 
gallant and meritorious services.” 

The grand review. — With the surrender of Lee’s army 
the war was virtually ended, and in May, 1865, Major 
McKinley was one of those who took part in the last 
grand review of the Union army at Washington. A few 
weeks later, he was mustered out of service with his regi¬ 
ment and returned to his father’s home at Poland. “ He 
had never been absent a day from his command on sick 
leave,” says one of his friends; “he had had only one 


The grand review 









B48 


william McKinley 


short furlough in his four years of service ; he never asked 
nor sought promotion; he was present and active in every 
engagement in which his regiment took part; and he per¬ 
formed bravely and well every duty assigned to him.’ , 

n. LAWYER AND CONGRESSMAN 

Studying law. —William McKinley was now twenty- 
three years old. He had already made up his mind to be 
a lawyer, and he at once began the studies necessary to 
prepare him for his profession. He made such rapid 
progress that within less than two years after leaving the 
army he was admitted to the bar. He then settled down 
to the practice of his profession at Canton, the county seat 
of Stark County, Ohio. 

Negro suffrage. — It was in support of negro suffrage 
that Mr. McKinley made his first political speeches. Until 
several years after the war the idea of permitting negroes to 
vote was very unpopular, not only in the South but in many 
of the northern states. In Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, and 
other states, only white men were allowed the right to 
vote and hold office; black men were not even citizens, and 
in some places there were laws forbidding them to settle 
within the limits of the state. In a few of the states 
these laws were repealed during or soon after the war; 
in others they remained on the statute books until they 
were made null by the passage of the Fifteenth Amend¬ 
ment. While this question of negro suffrage was being 
agitated in Ohio, Mr. McKinley spoke in favor of it at a 
number of political meetings; and his speeches made him 


LAWYER AND CONGRESSMAN 


349 



so many friends that he was soon afterward nominated 
and elected to the office of prosecuting attorney. 

A public speaker. — Mr. McKinley held his office 
of prosecuting attorney for only one term and then 
resumed the private 
practice of law. But 
although a successful 
lawyer, he was a better 
politician. In every 
campaign he was the 
most popular political 
speaker in his district. 

His name was soon 
known throughout the 
state as that of a rising 
young man of more 
than ordinary ability. 

In Congress. — In 
1876, at the age of 
thirty-four, he was 
elected to Congress. 

On the same day that 

he became a member McKinley in Congress 

of the House of Repre¬ 
sentatives his old friend and commander, Rutherford B. 
Hayes, succeeded General Grant as President of the 
United States. Being a personal friend of the President, 
Mr. McKinley exerted not a little influence upon the con¬ 
duct of affairs. He soon became known in Congress as 





350 


william McKinley 


one of the ablest advocates of a high tariff for the protec¬ 
tion of American manufacturers. 

Two kinds of tariff. — When goods are brought into 
the United States irom foreign countries the owner is 
required to pay to the government a tax equal to a cer¬ 
tain part of their value. This tax is called u tariff/’ and 
the amount paid on any goods is known as “ duty.” Many 
persons believe that there should be no tax of this kind 
except to obtain money to “pay the expenses of the govern¬ 
ment. The tax in that case would be called a tariff for 
revenue. Others believe that it should be so high on all 
kinds of manufactured goods that nothing when brought 
to this country can be sold for a less price than that for 
which our own manufacturers can make and sell it. The 
tax is then a tariff for protection. 

McKinley’s opinion. — Mr. McKinley, as I have said, 
was a strong advocate of a high protective tariff. For 
seven successive terms in Congress he was the champion 
of this doctrine. Near the close of the last term he intro¬ 
duced the general tariff measure which has since been 
known as the “ McKinley Bill.” “ I believe in this 
measure and warmly advocate it,” he said, “ because en¬ 
veloped in it are my country’s development and greatest 
prosperity.” The bill was passed by Congress and, on the 
6th of October, 1890, became a law. 

The twentieth President. — In 1880 Mr. McKinley was 
appointed a member of the Ways and Means Committee 
of the House, to succeed his friend and fellow-citizen 
James A. Garfield, who had been elected the twentieth 


LAWYER AND CONGRESSMAN 


351 


President of the United States. Four months after his 
inauguration Mr. Garfield was shot by a disappointed 
office-seeker. He lingered for ten long weeks on the con¬ 
fines of life and death, and on the 19th of September 
breathed his last. When the House of Representatives 
went into mourning for the dead President, it appointed 
William McKinley to be chairman of the committee in 
charge of the memorial exercises. Five years later, when 
the state of Ohio placed a statue of the murdered Presi¬ 
dent in the Capitol at Washington, William McKinley 
was chosen to deliver the memorial address. 

President Arthur.—President Garfield was succeeded 
by the Vice President, Chester A. Arthur, of New York, 
who served until the end of the presidential term in 1885. 

Grover Cleveland, who succeeded Mr. Arthur, was the 
twenty-s.econd President of the United States. He was 
the first Democrat to hold that office since 1860. He 
was opposed to the tariff doctrines of Mr. McKinley, and 
was active in promoting reforms in the civil service of 
the government. 

McKinley honored. — Toward the close of Mr. Cleve¬ 
land’s term the Republican leaders began to look for a 
candidate whose popularity and ability would restore their 
party to power. Many declared that William McKinley 
was the man best fitted to lead them to victory, and at 
the National Convention they urged his nomination for 
the presidency. But Mr. McKinley had promised to give 
his support to another candidate, and he announced that 
he could not permit his name to be used. 


852 


william mckinley 


Benjamin Harrison. — His name was therefore with¬ 
drawn, and Benjamin Harrison, of Indiana, was nominated 
and afterward elected to the presidency. 

III. GOVERNOR AND PRESIDENT 

Governor of Ohio. — In the year following that in 
which his famous tariff bill became a law, Mr. McKinley 
was elected governor of Ohio. Soon after his inaugu¬ 
ration another presidential campaign began, and his 
friends again urged him to become a candidate. But 
again he declined, saying that President Harrison was 
entitled to another term and ought to be renominated. 

Cleveland again elected. — The Republican nomination 
was accordingly given to Harrison. In the election he 
was defeated, and Grover Cleve¬ 
land was returned to the presi¬ 
dential chair. 

McKinley President. —McKin¬ 
ley as governor of Ohio was so 
well liked by the people of the 
state that they elected him to 
a second term. Everybody now 
saw that he must be the next 
Republican candidate for the 
presidency. All over the United 
States the voice of the Republican press and of the Repub¬ 
lican leaders was for McKinley. And so, when the National 
Convention met in 1896, he was the choice of more than 
two thirds of all the delegates. In the election he received 



The twenty-fifth President 


GOVERNOR AND PRESIDENT 353 

over six hundred thousand votes more than his strongest 
opponent. On the 4th of March, 1897, William McKinley 
was inaugurated President of the United States. 

Another tariff law. — During Cleveland’s second ad¬ 
ministration, the McKinley tariff law had been superseded 
by another less favorable to the protection of American 
industries. President McKinley, therefore, urged the 
enactment of a measure more in harmony with his 
opinions. A new bill, drawn up under his supervision 
and known as the “Dingley Tariff Act,” was introduced 
into the House. After some discussion it was passed and 
duly became a law. 

The tyranny of Spain. — Very early in McKinley’s 
administration the attention of the American people was 
turned to the con¬ 
dition of affairs 
in the island of 
Cuba. Of all the 
possessions which 
Spain had acquired 
through the dis¬ 
coveries of Colum¬ 
bus and his follow¬ 
ers none remained to her in America except Cuba, Porto 
Rico, and a few small adjoining islands. Her tyranny 
and the oppressive acts of her officers in Cuba had often 
driven the Cubans into rebellion. The last uprising began 
in 1895, when men in all parts of the island united in 
taking up arms for the defense of their liberties. 

barnes’s el.— 23 






854 


WILLIAM McKINLEY 


The Cuban rebellion. — The war dragged along for 
many months without either side gaining much advantage. 
Americans who had money invested in Cuban mines and 
plantations were among the heaviest losers. American 
sympathizers had to be restrained from sending arms 
and supplies to the Cubans. Americans in general were 
horrified by the barbarous manner in which the natives of 
the island were treated by their Spanish rulers. 

The “ Maine. ” — In February, 1898, the United States 
battleship Maine was at anchor in the harbor of Havana. 



The “Maine” after the explosion 


One evening a terrible explosion took place which de¬ 
stroyed the vessel and caused the death of two hundred 
and sixty American officers and men. How the explo¬ 
sion was caused, no one ever learned. But it was thought 
to be an act of Spanish treachery; and soon in every part 
of the country the cry of “ Remember the Maine ! ” awak¬ 
ened the desire for revenge. The people demanded war. 







GOVERNOR AND PRESIDENT 


355 


McKinley’s message. — The excitement continued for 
nearly two months. On the 11th of April, President 
McKinley sent to Congress a special message on Cuban 
affairs. He spoke of the tyrannous acts of Spain, through 
a long series of years, by which the Cuban people had been 
goaded to repeated acts of rebellion. He described how 
our own trade had suffered, how American property in 
Cuba had been destroyed, and how the temper and for¬ 
bearance of the American people had been strained. He 
closed by asking Congress to authorize him to take meas¬ 
ures to bring about “ a full and final termination of hos¬ 
tilities in the oppressed islands.” 

The war begins. — A few days later Congress passed a 
resolution granting his request. A formal demand was 
also made upon the Spanish government, requiring it to 
relinquish its authority in Cuba and withdraw all its forces 
from the island. 

Spain, of course, refused to comply with this demand, 
and war began. An American fleet under Admiral 
Sampson was sent to blockade the ports of Cuba. Another 
fleet, which was then cruising in Chinese waters, was sent 
under Commodore Dewey to attack the Spanish fleet in 
the Philippine Islands. 

American Victories. — On the 1st of May, Dewey 
arrived in Manila harbor and surprised and destroyed 
the Spanish ships that were lying there. On the 3rd of 
July, Spain’s only remaining fleet, commanded by Admiral 
Cervera, was destroyed by American battleships off the 
harbor of Santiago on the south coast of Cuba. A few 


356 


william McKinley 


days later the American land forces defeated the main 
body of Spaniards in Cuba, and the city of Santiago w as 
surrendered. 


IV. EXPANSION 

Spain could do no more. — Toward the last of July 

the Spanish government began to ask for peace; and, a 
l89s few weeks later, President McKinley issued a proc¬ 
lamation which put an end to the war. By the 
treaty of peace which was signed in December, Spain 
agreed to withdraw from Cuba, to cede the islands of 
Porto Pico and Guam to the United States, and to sell 
the Philippine Islands to our government for twenty 
million dollars. 

Thus Spain after more than four hundred years of 
dominion was forced to give up the last of her American 
possessions. 

The Philippine Islands were discovered in 1520 by the 
Spaniards with Magellan in that famous first voyage round 
the world. They had been for centuries the most impor¬ 
tant possessions of Spain in the Far East. The natives of 
some of the islands had long cherished the idea of inde¬ 
pendence, and they hoped that the United States would aid 
them in setting up a government of their own. But in 
this they were disappointed, and a large number in the 
northern islands refused to submit to our government. 
This led to a long and distressing war, which cost much 
treasure and the lives of thousands of American soldiers, 
and inflicted untold misery upon the native inhabitants. 


EXPANSION 


357 


Hawaii. — In the year 1893, the white inhabitants of 
the Hawaiian Islands in the middle of the Pacific Ocean 
established a republican government and asked to be joined 
to the United States. But President Cleveland did not 
favor the adding of any further territories to our domains, 
and the petition was not granted. Soon after the in¬ 
auguration of McKinley the matter was revived, and the 
Hawaiians again asked to have their islands placed under 
the control of the United States. The President, un¬ 
like his predecessor, believed that if this were done it 
would result in great advantage both to our country and 
to the country of the Hawaiians. In July, 1898, there¬ 
fore, while the Spanish war was at its height, Congress 
passed a resolution for the annexation of the islands, 
and in the year 1900 they became a territory of the 
United States. 

The end. — The American people were so well satisfied 
with Mr. McKinley’s first administration that they re¬ 
elected him by a much larger vote than he had received 
before. On the 6th of September, 1901, while visiting the 
Pan-American Exposition in Buffalo, he was shot by a 
young anarchist, who took this method of showing his 
hatred of all law and of all rulers. He lingered for a 
week, while the world hoped and prayed for his re¬ 
covery. Early on the morning of the 14th he died. The 
death of no other man since that of Lincoln in 1865 
was so generally regretted and lamented. He was suc¬ 
ceeded by the Vice President, Theodore Roosevelt, of New 
York. 


358 


william mckinley 


REVIEW 

What induced William McKinley to enlist in the Union army? 
How long did he serve ? Who succeeded Lincoln as President ? 
What great questions had to be settled after the close of the war ? 
When and how was slavery fully abolished? What does the 
Fifteenth Amendment to the Constitution provide ? Who was the 
eighteenth President of the United States ? What is meant by a 
“ tariff ” ? What is a protective tariff ? Who was the nineteenth 
President ? The twentieth ? What can you say of his character ? 
Who succeeded him as President? Who was the twenty-second 
President ? The twenty-third ? What were the causes of the war 
with Spain? What did Spain lose by the war? What did the 
United States gain? 


LATER ADMINISTRATIONS 

AND THE WAR WITH GERMANY 

Theodore Roosevelt was not quite forty-three years old 
when, upon the death of William McKinley, he became 
the twenty-sixth President of our coun¬ 
try. He was the youngest man ever 
sailed to be the chief executive of our 
national government. The people were 
so well pleased with his administration 
during the three-and-a-half years which 
remained of McKinley’s term, that in 
1904 he was reelected to the presidency 
by the vote of a very large majority. 

The Panama Canal. — While Roosevelt was President, 
the United States began the great work of constructing a 
canal across the Isthmus of Panama to connect the waters 
of the Atlantic Ocean with those of the Pacific. A treaty 
was made with the independent state of Panama whereby 
a strip of land five miles wide on each side of the canal 
was granted to our government and became a part of our 
nossessions. This strip is known as the Canal Zone. 
Through the energetic management of President Roosevelt 
and his successors, the great canal was completed in 1914, 



860 


LATER ADMINISTRATIONS 


and was ready for the passage of vessels from ocean to 
ocean. The cost of its construction was about four hundred 
million dollars, and its benefits to the commerce of the world, 
and especially of our own country, can never be estimated. 

William H. Taft.—During Roosevelt’s administration, 
also, the disturbance in the Philippine Islands was hap¬ 
pily ended. The natives soon learned 
that our people could be trusted, and 
under the wise management of Wil¬ 
liam Howard Taft, who was governor- 
general of the islands (1901-1904), 
they became quite generally recon¬ 
ciled to the beneficent rule of Amer¬ 
ica. A school system was established 
throughout the islands, most of the 
schools being taught by American 
teachers; the English language was 
introduced; and American ideals and inventions helped 
to bring about an era of prosperity hitherto unequaled 
in the islands. In 1907 the first Philippine legislative 
assembly was opened officially by Mr. Taft, and little by 
little since that time the people have been intrusted with 
the difficult task of self-government. 

Taft as President. — In 1908 another election took 
place, and William Howard Taft, a native of Ohio and 
late Governor of the Philippines, was chosen as Roose¬ 
velt’s successor to the presidency. The four years which 
followed were a period of peace and great prosperity. 
Much attention was given to the improvement and devel- 



WOODROW WILSON 


361 


opment of the dry and hitherto barren regions in the 
West; dams and reservoirs were built, canals were con¬ 
structed, and millions of acres of arid lands were irrigated 
and made productive. During this period the last of the 
western territories, New Mexico and Arizona, were ad¬ 
mitted to the Union as states. Our country, stretching 
from ocean to ocean, then embraced forty-eight states 
besides the District of Columbia. Its territorial posses¬ 
sions and dependencies included Alaska in the far north ; 
the Philippine Islands, Hawaii, Guam, and Tutuila in the 
Pacific Ocean; Porto Rico among the West Indies; and 
the Canal Zone on the Isthmus of Panama. To these 
w r ere added in 1916 the three Virgin Islands, St. Thomas, 
St. Croix, and St. John, purchased from Denmark for 
twenty-five million dollars. 

Woodrow Wilson. — While President' Roosevelt was ne¬ 
gotiating with Panama for the Canal Zone and Mr. Taft 
was devising methods for the conciliation 
and uplifting of the people in our far 
Eastern possessions, Woodrow Wilson was 
performing the duties of president of V jL 
Princeton University in New Jersey. The 
three men were of nearly the same age, m mrn Hmif 
Taft being a few months younger than 
Wilson, and a few months older than Woodrow wi i son 
Roosevelt. Wilson was a native of the 
South; he was born in Virginia only about four years 
before the beginning of the Civil War. His early educa¬ 
tion was with a view to the practice of law, but he soon 


362 


LATER ADMINISTRATIONS 


became famous as a professor of political economy and as 
a writer of history. In 1910, having resigned the presi¬ 
dency of Princeton University, he was elected governor of 
New Jersey, and two years later he was chosen to be the 
twenty-eighth President of the United States. 

The trouble with Mexico. — During the first two years 
of Wilson’s administration public attention was directed 
to Mexico, where civil war was being carried on between 
different political factions. The rights and lives of Amer¬ 
ican citizens in that country were imperiled, and at times 
it seemed as though our government would be forced to 
intervene; but happily this danger was at length averted, 
and the people of Mexico were left to adjust their own 
political differences without interference from the United 
States. 


THE WAR WITn GERMANY 

The Great Powers. —Early in the present century there 
were in Europe two groups of great nations bound together 
for the purpose of common defense. One of these groups, 
called the Triple Alliance, was composed of Germany, Aus¬ 
tria, and Italy; the other, known as the Triple Entente, 
included Great Britain, France, and Russia. Each of the 
three nations comprising the Triple Alliance was bound 
by solemn agreements to aid and support either or both of 
its allies in case of invasion or unjust attack by some 
other power. Likewise Russia and France were bound to 
aid each other to resist attack, while Great Britain had a 
friendly understanding with them which had not been 


EUROPE IN 1914 


363 


made binding. This division of the nations into two great 
groups of allied Powers had been made necessary by the 
ever-increasing jealousy that existed among them and by 
the ambition of the German government to make itself 
supreme. It was thought that thus the “ balance of 
power” would be preserved, and many even hoped that 
permanent peace would be maintained. 

The German Empire. — Of all the European nations, Ger¬ 
many had the strongest army and was the best prepared 
for war. The German Empire came into existence at the 
close of the Franco-German war in 1871. It was com¬ 
posed of twenty-six states, — called kingdoms, grand 
duchies, duchies, etc., — which had previously been loosely 
united in what was known as the German Confederacy. 
Of these states, Prussia was much the largest both in area 
and population — in fact, she was larger than all the 
others combined; and her power in the empire was there¬ 
fore supreme. The smaller German states might conduct 
their own little local affairs, but in matters relating to the 
empire they had actually little voice. The king of Prussia 
was the “ kaiser ” or emperor of Germany. 

The Prussian Autocracy.—The government of Germany 
was an autocracy or one-man power. The emperor was the 
absolute commander of the German army; he controlled 
the chief officers of the empire; he was accountable neither 
to the people nor to the lawmakers of the empire, many 
of whom he controlled. His powers were so great that 
the lawmakers very seldom opposed his will. His claims to 
authority were expressed in his own words : “ There is but 


364 


THE WAR WITH GERMANY 


one master in this country; it is I, and I will toler¬ 
ate no other.” “ Whosoever opposes me, I will crush to 
pieces.” 

“ Germany over all.” — Ever since the establishment of 
the empire, the chief efforts and aims of the German gov¬ 
ernment were directed towards the upbuilding of a mighty 
world power. To promote these aims, every German was 
taught from childhood that the king of Prussia and em¬ 
peror of Germany was a ruler by “ divine right.” While 
in other countries children were taught the principles of 
justice and of human equality, in Germany their instruc¬ 
tion was of that kind which encourages a dominating 
spirit and a selfish disregard of the rights of others. The 
facts of history and geography were arranged to lend ad¬ 
ditional glory to Germany and to foster the feeling of 
superiority towards other nations. The motto was “ Ger¬ 
many over all.” 

To insure the military strength of the empire, nearly 
every young man was obliged to serve as a soldier at least 
three years; and the standing army of the kaiser was the 
strongest that the world had ever known. A powerful 
navy also was built and equipped for conquest on the seas. 
“ Our future lies on the water,” declared the kaiser, no 
doubt having in mind the hoped-for time when Great Brit¬ 
ain’s sea power should be overthrown. 

While the army and navy were made stronger and 
stronger in times of peace, the government was also active 
*in promoting German industries throughout the world. 
German colonies were planted in Africa, in China, and in 


EUROPE IN 1914 


365 


various islands of the Pacific. Friendly relations were 
cultivated with Austria, Turkey, and Bulgaria, concessions 
were obtained for the building of railroads in Asia Minor 
and beyond; and the German rulers dreamed of a greater 
German Empire reaching from the North Sea to the Per¬ 
sian Gulf. 

Political affairs in Europe were at this stage when an 
event occurred which gave the German kaiser his desired 
opportunity and set the world on fire. 

A tragedy. — On the 28th of June, 1914, there was a 
military parade and inspection in the little city of Sera- 
jevo, in Bosnia, and the Archduke Francis Ferdinand, heir 
to the throne of Austria, was present. While sitting in 
his motor car, the archduke was attacked and killed by a 
young Bosnian, a student in the high school at Serajevo. 
Like many other people of Bosnia, he was of the Serbian 
race and wanted to have Bosnia taken away from Austria 
and annexed to Serbia. 

The excitement which followed the commission of this 
crime was intense. In Austria it was charged that the 
whole affair had been planned and encouraged by the 
Serbian government for the purpose of fomenting a revo¬ 
lution in Bosnia and the adjoining provinces of Austria. 
The facts were that Austria had long been jealous of 
Serbia; for, of late years, the little kingdom had been 
growing rapidly ; her wealth was increasing ; and but for 
Austria’s objections she would have had a seaport on the 
Adriatic, giving her access to the trade of the world. The 
Serbians hated the Austrians for their oppressive rule in 


366 


THE WAR WITH GERMANY 


Bosnia and other provinces; but Serbia was not guilty of 
the crime of which she was accused. 

It was in vain that the assassin himself declared that 
the act was all his own and that he had no helpers what¬ 
ever. It was in vain that the Serbian government humbly 
offered to submit the whole matter in question to a con¬ 
ference of European powers for arbitration. Austria had 
long coveted certain portions of the Serbian territories, 
and now she resolved to crush her little neighbor. After 
receiving assurances of support from Germany, she mar¬ 
shaled her army and on the 28th of July declared war on 
Serbia. 

Meanwhile the Serbians felt that Russia would come to 
their aid. The Serbian people and the Russians were of 
the same race, they had the same religion, and their modes 
of life were similar. Moreover, Russia was unwilling that 
Austria should annex more territory. No sooner, then, 
had the Austrians begun their attack than Russia sum¬ 
moned her forces to be in readiness to give assistance to 
Serbia. At the same time Great Britain sent notes to the 
other great Powers, proposing that the matter in dispute 
between Austria and Russia should be submitted to an 
international conference, for arbitration and peaceful 
settlement. It was hoped that, in this way, war might 
even yet be averted. 

Germany begins the Great War. — Without any delay, 

Russia, France, and Italy assented to this proposal ; but 
Germany, the nation best prepared for war, objected. 
“ This affair,” said the kaiser, “is of concern to Austria 


THE OYER-RUNNING OF BELGIUM 


3G7 


and Serbia alone ; let them settle it. Any interference in 
any way will be regarded as an affront to the German 
government, and will be resented accordingly.” He de¬ 
manded that Russia should at once stop mobilizing her 
armies. When Russia did not obey, he commanded his 
own armies to prepare for a conflict with Russia on the 
one hand and with France on the other. 

The over-running of Belgium. — Events now moved 
rapidly. The German plan was to invade France suddenly 
and, by the early capture of Paris, bring the French gov¬ 
ernment to its knees and win an overwhelming victory 
before Russia could strike a blow. On the 2nd day of 
August, therefore, a demand was made upon Belgium to 
grant free passage for the German armies across her 
territories, as that was the easiest route to Paris. The 
demand was accompanied with promises of reward in case 
of compliance, and threats of punishment in case of refusal. 

Now Belgium was peculiarly a neutral nation. Nearly 
eighty years before, the five great Powers of Europe, 
including Prussia, had joined in a treaty of agreement 
whereby her independence and neutrality were forever 
guaranteed. Every country since that time had respected 
the conditions of that treaty; but now Germany, dis¬ 
regarding the faith of nations, acted as if the treaty were 
nothing but a common “ scrap of paper,” having no bind¬ 
ing force. When Belgium refused her demand, the Ger¬ 
man army immediately invaded the country. 

On August 4, Great Britain, in defense of Belgium no 
less than to aid France, declared war on Germany, and 


368 


THE WAR WITH GERMANY 



Belgians fleeing from the German invasion 


began to get her troops ready to cross the Channel. 
The heroic stand made by the Belgium government so 
hindered the progress of the German troops that the 
French and British were enabled to marshal their armies 
in time to save Paris. In the great battle of the Marne, 
which was fought early in September, the Allies under 
Generals Joffre and Foch won a decided victory, and the 
invaders were forced to turn back. After several terrific 
conflicts, they established themselves in a line of intrench- 







KEEPING OUT OF THE AVAR 


369 


merits and siege Avorks extending for three hundred miles 
across the northeastern parts of France and the Avestern 
part of Belgium. There they remained for weeks and 
months, actively opposed by the French, British, and Bel¬ 
gian forces, who also were protected by trenches and tem¬ 
porary fortifications. 

Keeping out of the war. — Within a few days after the 
first declarations of war by European powers, President 
Wilson issued a proclamation of neutrality, warning all 
American citizens from taking any active part in the 
conflict. Americans were forbidden to enlist in the army 
or the navy of any of the warring powers; they were not 
to fit out or assist in arming any ship to be used in the 
Avar; nor were they permitted in any way to give aid or 
comfort to one belligerent nation above another. More¬ 
over, they were advised to be temperate and discreet in 
all their expressions of opinions concerning the conduct 
of the war and the nations engaged therein. This policy 
of neutrality was for some time generally approved and 
adopted by the great majority of the American people; 
and in the presidential election of 1916, this approval was 
voiced by the reflection of Woodrow Wilson, largely be¬ 
cause through his good judgment and wise management, 
of international affairs he had happily “kept us out of 
the Avar.” But as the conflict continued, the task of main¬ 
taining strict neutrality became daily more and more 
difficult. 

The seizure of ships. — Great Britain gave to us the 
first cause for complaint. About one month after the be- 


370 


THE WAR WITH GERMANY 


ginning of the war, two American ships loaded with 
copper and bound for a neutral country were seized by 
British authorities and taken into port. The American 
government protested. Great Britain contended that al¬ 
though the copper was on the way to Holland, its real 
destination was Germany, where it was to be used in a 
munitions factory; and this being the case, it was contra¬ 
band of war and, by the laws of nations, subject to seizure. 
Both cargoes were seized, but their full value was sent to 
their American owners. Many similar cases of friction 
occurred, calling for protests from our government; but 
in every instance when Great Britain was concerned, the 
damage or loss was of a kind that could be paid for or 
adjusted by arbitration. 

War zones on the sea. — Immediately after the begin¬ 
ning of the war, German ships, disguised as neutral vessels 
and flying neutral flags, began to scatter floating mines in 
the North Sea and along the main trade routes to Great 
Britain and France. This impelled Great Britain to de¬ 
clare that the whole of the North Sea was to be regarded 
as a military zone, and that all vessels sailing therein 
without her permission were liable to seizure or destruc¬ 
tion. In retaliation for this order, as well as to forward 
her own interests, Germany immediately declared the ex¬ 
istence of a war zone including all the waters surround¬ 
ing Great Britain and Ireland. Every British or French 
ship found sailing in these waters was to be destroyed, 
and neutral ships were warned to avoid danger by keep¬ 
ing away. In the first nine months of the war, more 


THE LUSITANIA 


371 


than fifty vessels belonging to neutral nations were sunk 
by German mines and submarines, and some of their 
sailors and passengers were suffered to perish. President 
Wilson protested to the German government concerning this 
illegal destruction of lives and property on the high seas. 



The Lusitania. — On the 7th of May, 1915, the British 
passenger steamship Lusitania , bound from New York to 
Liverpool, was sunk without warning by a torpedo from a 
German submarine. Nearly two thousand passengers were 
on board, and of these more than half were drowned; 
more than a hundred were Americans. The news caused 
great excitement in America. People who had hitherto 
been inclined to excuse the German methods of warfare 
were aroused and indignant. All over the country there 
was a cry for war. 

But President Wilson was unwilling to act hastily; his 
patience was unbounded; he knew the cost of war and 
the measureless distress it would entail upon the nation. 






372 


THE WAR WITH GERMANY 


While others were clamoring wildly for vengeance, he 
calmly said, “ Let us wait. Perhaps, after all, this matter 
can be settled peaceably with Germany.” 

President Wilson promptly dispatched a note of protest 
to the kaiser’s government, saying that he expected Ger¬ 
many to disavow the sinking of our ships, and especially of 
the Lusitania , in a manner “ so obviously perversive of the 
principles of warfare ” ; and he concluded with the warn¬ 
ing that the German nation need not “expect the govern¬ 
ment of the United States to omit any word or act neces¬ 
sary to the performance of its duty to maintain the rights 
of American citizens, and to safeguard them in the free 
exercise and enjoyment of their liberties.” 

It was necessary for him to send three such notes before 
the Germans made any sort of satisfactory reply. In the 
third he spoke in tones of decision, informing the kaiser’s 
government that any repetition of barbarous acts such as 
the sinking of the Lusitania would be regarded by the 
American government as “deliberately unfriendly.” 

Germany was not yet ready for an open rupture with 
the United States; and so her ambassador at Washington 
was instructed to say that ocean liners would not there¬ 
after be “ sunk by submarines without warning and 
without safeguarding the lives of passengers and crew, 
provided that such liners do not offer resistance or try 
to escape.” 

The warring nations. — In the meantime, the area of 
the war was greatly extended. At the beginning of the 
year 1915, Germany, Austria, and Turkey — known as 


THE WARRING NATIONS 


373 


the Central Powers — were opposed by Great Britain, 
France, Russia, Belgium, Serbia, Montenegro, and Japan 
— called the Allies. In May of the same year, Italy, 
having already severed her relations with the Triple 
Alliance, declared war on Austria; but not until a year 
later was that declaration extended to Germany. In 
October, Bulgaria joined the Central Powers. Before the 
end of the war, no fewer than twenty-two nations, more 
than three fourths of the whole world, had declared war 
on Germany. Meanwhile, by the end of 1917, the Central 
Powers had taken Serbia and large parts of Russia, while 
the Allies had taken all the German colonies and parts 
of Turkey. 

German intrigues. — While great battles were being 
fought on widely separated fronts in Europe and Asia, 
German officials, agents, and spies were busy at work in 
all neutral countries, trying to influence public opinion in 
favor of the German cause; nor did they hesitate to 
employ any available means whereby to injure those who 
were opposed to them. In the United States, in further¬ 
ance of German interests, newspapers were influenced and 
bought, pamphlets were distributed, public speakers were 
employed, secret agencies were put to work — all in open 
disregard of the President’s neutrality proclamation. 
These agencies made attempts to blow up munition fac¬ 
tories, and to conceal destructive bombs on outgoing 
American merchant vessels; plots were formed for the 
destruction of bridges, railroads, and public property in 
Canada; strikes were fomented among the workingmen 


374 


THE WAR WITH GERMANY 


iii munition factories; and efforts were made to embroil 
the United States in war with Mexico. Even the German 
ambassador at Washington was finally detected in secret 
plots against the peace and prosperity of our country. 

The Sussex affair. — In the English Channel, in March, 
1916, the French passenger boat Sussex was torpedoed 
without warning, but was not sunk. Eighty persons 
were killed or injured. This act was followed by an¬ 
other protest from our government, and notice was given 
that unless Germany immediately stopped the practice 
of ruthless and unlawful warfare upon passenger and 
freight vessels, the United States could have “no choice 
but to sever diplomatic relations with her.” Germany 
then pledged herself to sink no more such ships without 
warning and without efforts to save the lives of those on 
board; but she added that she expected the United States 
to insist that Great Britain should conform to the rules 
of international law, — otherwise, Germany would reserve 
to herself “ complete liberty of decision.” 

Such reply was, of course, far from satisfactory; but 
rather than rush immediately into war, our government 
notified Germany that we should expect her to keep her 
pledge without any conditions. For a few months, the 
number of ships destroyed by submarines seemed to de¬ 
crease, and hopes were felt that Germany would abide by 
her promises. 

Unrestricted submarine warfare. — It was on the 4th 

of May, 1916, that Germany had made the conditional 
promise that ocean liners and merchant ships should not 


UNRESTRICTED SUBMARINE WARFARE 


375 


be destroyed without due warning; on the last day of 
January, 1917, that promise was revoked, and announce¬ 
ment was made that German submarines would thereafter 
destroy, without distinction and without warning, all 
vessels found sailing within certain prohibited areas or 
zones. There were two of these zones : one covered nearly 
all of the Mediterranean Sea; the other included all the 
waters surrounding the British Isles and the w T est coast of 
France. Through each zone a narrow lane was designated, 
along which neutral vessels would be allowed to pass on 
certain conditions. 

This announcement, together with the many previous 
acts by which Germany had shown her disregard for the 
laws of humanity, made it clear that our country could not 
with honor longer refrain from taking action. The patience 
of the American government had been tried to the very 
limit. 

War is declared. — There was no further need of diplo¬ 
matic notes and protests. The President promptly severed 
relations with Germany by dismissing her ambassador and 
recalling the American ambassador from Berlin. The 
German navy went on with its ruthless submarine warfare. 
Within a very few weeks, several American vessels were 
torpedoed without warning, and in the sinking of a British 
passenger ship several American lives were lost. Germany 
was actually waging war on the United States. 

On the second day of April, 1917, Congress was con¬ 
vened to consider the tremendous situation. There could 
be but one decision. Four days later, President Wilson, 


376 


THE WAR WITH GERMANY 


acting by authority of Congress, proclaimed the existence 
of a state of war with the German Empire. 

Reasons for declaring war. — This proclamation, we 
should remember, was made after long and patient consid¬ 
eration by the President; it was made after the deliberate 
commission by the kaiser’s government of hostile acts 
which could by no means be ignored or excused. Among 
such hostile acts, the following may be enumerated: — 

(1) A large number of peaceable American citizens — 
men, women, and children, traveling under the protection 
of international law — had been killed by agents of the 
German government. 

(2) The German government had made no apology nor 
offered any reparation ; but after due warning from the 
United States, had persisted in the violation of neutral 
rights and of the laws of humanity which all civilized 
nations had hitherto respected. 

(3) Since the beginning of the war, the German govern¬ 
ment had carried on a secret campaign in the United 
States in violation of the rights of a neutral nation, en¬ 
couraging disloyalty among American citizens, hiring crim¬ 
inals to destroy property, and organizing on American soil 
unlawful conspiracies against countries with which we 
were at peace. 

(4) The German government had endeavored to induce 
Mexico and Japan to make war upon the United States, 
and had promised to assist Mexico in regaining possession 
of Texas, New Mexico, and Arizona. 

By far the most important reason of all, not only for 


PROVIDING AN ARMY 


377 


our entrance into the war but for our continuance in it 
until a victorious peace should be won, was this: To save 
the world from the rule of Prussian militarism and au¬ 
tocracy , and preserve the liberties of mankind. 

Unprepared. — Our navy was ready for war, but other¬ 
wise the country was unprepared. On the day that war 
was declared, the United States army consisted of only 
about 100,000 soldiers scattered here and there in widely 
separated places. Besides these, there was throughout 
the states a National Guard numbering less than 125,000 
men. All our forces taken together would have made but 
a pitiable showing in comparison with the millions of 
trained soldiers in the service of Germany. Voluntary 
enlistments, however, very soon increased our regular 
army to 300,000 and the National Guard to 450,000; 
and, in as brief a time as possible, these were assembled in 
camps or cantonments in different parts of the country for 
military training. 

A large army. — One of the first acts of Congress was 
to provide for the raising of a great national army by 
selective draft. At first, all men between twenty-one and 
thirty-one years of age were required to register for 
service; and nearly ten millions responded to the call. 
Later, the limits were extended to include all men between 
eighteen and forty-five years; and this added more than 
thirteen millions to the number already registered. The 
men were divided into classes, and from those best able to 
serve the army was rapidly recruited. Within eighteen 
months after the declaration of war, nearly 2,000,000 


878 


THE WAR WITH GERMANY 


American soldiers were in France and ready for active 
service against the German forces. 

The navy was also increased and made more efficient. 
A fleet of American destroyers was at once dispatched to 
European waters, and all our warships were engaged in 
active service — some in patrolling the seas infested by 
German submarines; some in convoying transports carry¬ 
ing troops, munitions, and supplies across the ocean ; 
some in guarding against a possible German attack. 

Providing for expenses. — The raising and equipping 
of an enormous army was only one of many great tasks 
which, with the declaration of war, devolved upon the gov¬ 
ernment. Means had to be devised for meeting the tre¬ 
mendous expenses of the war, including 
the maintenance of both the land and 
the naval forces. To accomplish this, 
Congress passed laws imposing very 
heavy taxes on incomes, on corporations, 
in fact, on everything that would admit 
of taxation. The people were also 
urged to purchase United States bonds 
— known as Liberty Bonds — and to 
buy Thrift Stamps and War Savings 
Stamps to the extent of their ability. 
In these various ways, many billions of 
dollars were procured for the purpose of aiding in the 
prosecution of the war. 

Other provisions. — The necessities of the Allies who 
were fighting for the same cause also demanded our atten- 



Liberty Loan poster 





OTHER PROVISIONS 


379 


tion. They were dependent upon America for many of 
their supplies and for much of their food. To provide 
sufficient for them, as well as for ourselves and our vast 
army, became a problem of the greatest importance. The 
government accordingly resorted to a number of means 
for the conservation of food and other necessities of life. 
Farmers were encouraged to plant more grain, raise more 
vegetables, and save more fruit. Housekeepers were in¬ 
structed to use flour and other breadstuffs economically. 
Maximum prices were fixed for some commodities, as well 
as the amount which each individual might use. 

In order still further to economize all the forces of the 
country for the winning of the war, several other regula¬ 
tions of a very radical nature were decreed and enforced. 
In 1918, all the great railroads, as well as telegraph lines 
and telephone systems, were put under control of the gov¬ 
ernment for the duration of the war. By act of Congress 
all clocks and other timepieces were set forward one hour 
from the last Sunday in March till the last Sunday in 
October, the object being to save kerosene, gas, and 
electricity by making the hours of labor fall as nearly 
as possible within the hours of sunlight. 

Shipbuilding. — Even before our government decided 
upon entering the war, it had become apparent to all 
thinking men that the future prosperity of the country 
depended in a large degree upon its merchant fleet. Ger¬ 
man submarines had destroyed and were destroying so 
many vessels belonging to other nations that the commerce 
of the world was threatened. And now the question was 


380 


THE WAR WITH GERMANY 


asked: How can the United States carry on war with 
Germany without ships on which to convey her army, her 
munitions, and her supplies across the seas ? 

The question was answered by putting thousands of 
men to work. A few days after the declaration of war, 



Hi 

PROVIDE THE SINEWS OF WAR 

BUY LIBERTY BONDS 


A shipyard as shown on a Liberty Loan poster 

the United States Shipping Board Emergency Fleet Cor¬ 
poration was organized. The work of building ships and 
of getting ships wherever possible was begun at once. 
Great shipyards were built at Hog Island, near Philadel- 






FIGHTING IN FRANCE 


381 


pbia, at Newark, New Jersey, and at other ports all along 
the Atlantic and Pacific coasts. Within the next eight 
months about nine hundred vessels were under construction 
and nearing completion, and more than four hundred 
others had been commandeered and placed under govern¬ 
ment control. 

Soon, new vessels were being finished and launched 
every day. On the 4th of July, 1918, no fewer than 82 
vessels were launched, including not only transports and 
merchant ships but destroyers and ships of war. 

The loading and dispatching of ships at the various 
ports of sailing were so accurately supervised that there 
were few delays. In the month of August it was an¬ 
nounced that, regularly, every forty minutes, a ship fully 
laden set sail from some American port, bound for some 
friendly European country. 

Fighting in France. — The twelve months following our 
entrance into the war were months of busy preparation; 
and during that time but few feats at arms were performed 
by American soldiers. Within that time, however, our 
men made their presence known in at least four different 
places on the battlefront in France. Indeed, it was as 
early as October, 1917, that the first American shot was 
fired. During the summer of 1918, notwithstanding the 
menace of German submarines, the steady and overwhelm¬ 
ing stream of soldiers and marines arriving daily in 
French ports surpassed every expectation. In the month 
of August alone, no fewer than 300,000 were safely con¬ 
veyed across the seas. 


382 


THE WAR WITH GERMANY 


The first attack by our troops occurred in May, 1918, 
when they drove the Germans out of Cantigny. A week 
later, a unit of American marines won renown by their 
gallantry in helping to check the German advance at 



The battlefront in France at the end of the last German drive 


Chateau-Thierry. In July and August many Americans 
helped to drive the Germans back from the Marne. In 
September, the First American Army under General Per¬ 
shing took St. Mihiel, about 200 square miles of terri¬ 
tory, and 15,000 prisoners. This great stroke won for our 



















END OF THE WAR 


383 


troops the admiration not only of their own countrymen 
but of the British and the French as well. From that day 
forward to the end of the war the prowess of the American 
soldiers was everywhere recognized and honored, while 
at the same time it became the source of increasing dread 
to their German foes. 

End of the war.—As the summer of 1918 drew to a 
close it became apparent that Germany could not much 
longer continue the struggle. One by one her aids, 
Bulgaria, Turkey, and Austria-Hungary, abandoned her 
cause and begged for peace. Finally, the German kaiser, 
being convinced that all was lost, hastily abdicated his 
imperial throne and fled to Holland for safety. 

On the 11th of November, German envoys signed an 
armistice or agreement by which hostilities were to cease 
and Germany was to surrender guns, airplanes, ships, and 
other things. 

Fighting ceased with the signing of the armistice but 
the war was not yet ended. A peace conference at which 
were assembled delegates from twenty-seven Allied nations 
met in the palace of Versailles, near Paris, early in 1919. 
The United States was represented by the President, 
Woodrow Wilson, with his advisers. In the following 
June a treaty was agreed upon ; it was ratified by Germany 
and nearly all the Allies. 

The Constitution of the United States provides that all 
treaties, to be binding on our country, must be ratified 
by the Senate. There were objections to certain clauses 
in the treaty which President Wilson had helped to make, 


384 


THE WAR WITH GERMANY 


and after prolonged debates and many delays, the Senate 
finally rejected it. In connection with the treaty, a 
League of Nations was organized, of which most of the 
nations became members. The United States, however, 
not having ratified the treaty, was not represented at 
the first meeting of the Council of the League in Jan¬ 
uary, 1920. 

In the meanwhile nearly all of our soldiers in foreign 
fields were brought back to America and discharged, and 
the industries of peace were quickly resumed. 

As it might have been expected after so great a conflict, 
the years following the World War marked a period of po¬ 
litical unrest and uncertainty. Many problems of vital 
importance were pressing for solution. 

Amendments to the Constitution. — For years much 
agitation had been going on concerning the question of 
prohibition. Gradually state after state passed laws pro¬ 
hibiting the manufacture and sale of intoxicating liquors. 
In 1918 Congress passed a war measure to the same 
effect. At about the same time it proposed the Eighteenth 
Amendment to the Constitution, which was ratified by 
the necessary thirty-six states. It went into effect earlv 
in 1920. 

Practically the same process occurred with the question 
of woman suffrage, and in August, 1920, the required 
number of states ratified the Nineteenth Amendment, giv¬ 
ing to women the political rights enjoyed by men. In the 
presidential elections of the same year millions of women 
exercised their right to vote. 


IMMIGRATION AND ILLITERACY 


385 


Immigration and Illiteracy. — During the first fourteen 
years of the present century more than fourteen millions 
of immigrants came to the United States. A large pro¬ 
portion of these new Americans were illiterate, and igno¬ 
rant of the rights and duties of citizens of a free country. 
In the midst of preparations for war, it was discovered 
that a large number of our own citizens were also unedu¬ 
cated. With the close of the war a new stream of immigrants 
began to flow to our shores. These facts induced Congress 
to pass laws, first to exclude all aliens over sixteen years 
of age who are unable to read and write, and second to 
limit the number of newcomers permitted each year to 
land in our country. 

Great Inventions. — The earlier years of the twentieth 
century were remarkable for the improvement and perfec¬ 
tion of many wonderful inventions. Among these may be 
mentioned the gas engine, which made possible the auto¬ 
mobile and the airplane. The first successful automobile 
was exhibited in 1896. Twenty-eight years later they 
were numbered by the millions, and for both business and 
pleasure are considered indispensable. Within a recent 
period airplanes crossed the Atlantic Ocean without stop¬ 
ping, and were made useful for transporting passengers 
and mails and for exploring hitherto inaccessible deserts 
and mountain regions. 

Wireless telegraphy, a thing undreamed of by S. F. B. 
Morse (see page 273), was brought to perfection in the 
radio which made it possible to transmit the human voice 
and other sounds to unlimited distances. 


386 


HARDING AND COOLIDGE 


HARDING AND COOLIDGE 

President Harding. — The presidential election which oc¬ 
curred in 1920, resulted in a great victory for the Repub¬ 
lican party. Its candidate, Senator 
Warren G. Harding, of Ohio, was 
chosen President by a plurality of 
more than seven million votes. Calvin 
Coolidge, of Massachusetts, was elected 
Vice President. One of the first acts 
of the new administration was to make 
separate treaties of peace with Ger¬ 
many and Austria. The outstanding 
achievement of President Harding was 
the conference he called for the limita¬ 
tion of armaments. Delegates from eight countries came 
to this conference. The more im¬ 
portant countries made a treaty limit¬ 
ing the number of great battleships, 
and treaties were signed by all 
countries represented which aimed to 
maintain peace throughout the world. 

In the summer of 1923 President 
Harding made a tour of inspection in 
Alaska in order to learn the condi¬ 
tions there first hand. On his way 
back hedied suddenlyat San Francisco 
on the second day of August. He had served as President 
of the United States for nearly two years and five months. 




Warren G. Harding 




PRESIDENT HARDING 


387 


He was a kindly man, tolerant in his views, and untiring 
in the performance of his duties. His death was deplored 
by the entire country. He was immediately succeeded 
by Vice President Coolidge, who thus became the thirtieth 
chief executive of the United States. President Coolidge 
continued the policies of his predecessor. 

REVIEW 

Give an account of the Panama Canal. What has our government 
done for the Philippines ? Tell about the German government; the 
German army. How did Germany begin the Great War ? How did 
our government try to keep peace? When did the United States 
declare war ? What is an armistice ? When and how was the war 
ended ? When was the Eighteenth Amendment ratified ? What is 
the Nineteenth Amendment? Why do so many Europeans wish 
to come to our country ? What laws have been passed to limit 
their number? Name some of the greatest inventions of recent 
times. Who was elected President in 1920? How long did he 
serve ? By whom was he succeeded ? What was the purpose of 
the Armament Conference ? 


BIOGRAPHICAL NOTES 


Leif the Lucky.—A thousand years ago the bravest 
sailors on the sea were the Northmen, whose homes were 
in Denmark and Norway. They invaded England in the 
time of King Alfred and later. They conquered a portion 
of France, which they called Normandy. They afterward 
discovered and settled Iceland, and their ships sailed to 
Greenland where they also made settlements. It is said 
that, about the year 1000, one of these sailors, Leif Ericson, 
or Leif the Lucky, sailed southwest from Greenland, and 
discovered a new land which he named Vineland. This 
must have been a part of the coast of North America, but 
no one knows exactly where it was. Some suppose that 
Leif landed and remained for some time on the shores of 
what is now called Rhode Island; but of this there is no 
proof. Longfellow’s poem, “ The Skeleton in Armor/’ is 
founded upon this supposition. 

Marco Polo.—One of the first travelers from Europe 
to the Far East was Marco Polo, who was born in Venice, 
Italy, in 1254. When seventeen years of age, he accom¬ 
panied his father across Asia Minor and Persia and finally 
to China which was then called Cathay. There they made 
the acquaintance of the great Tartar emperor, Kublai 
Khan, and Marco was employed by him on several impor¬ 
tant hiissions to neighboring lands and cities. The Polos 

388 


BIOGRAPHICAL NOTES 


389 


remained in China nearly twenty* years, and then returned 
home by way of India and Persia. Some time after this, 
Marco was taken prisoner by the Genoese, and confined in 
Genoa for a year. During his imprisonment he related to 
a fellow-captive the story of his adventures in the Far East. 
This story was written down and published, and it is sup¬ 
posed that it had great influence upon Columbus who prob¬ 
ably read it when a boy. Marco Polo died in 1324. 

Christopher Columbus.—Born in Genoa; died in Spain, 
1506, aged about sixty. (See page 7.) 

Ferdinand de Soto. —Bom in Spain, 1501; died in Loui¬ 
siana, 1541. (See page 42.) 

John Cabot. — Born in Genoa; died at sea, 1499. (See 
page 25.) 

Sir Francis Drake. — Born in England, 1540; died at sea, 
1596. (See page 47.) 

Sir Walter Raleigh. — Born in England, 1552; died, 1618. 
(See page 55.) 

John Smith, the hero of Virginia, was born in Lincoln¬ 
shire, England, in 1579. At the age of fifteen he was ap¬ 
prenticed to a trade, but ran away and joined the army. 
He afterward served in Hungary, and was captured by the 
Turks and sold into slavery. He escaped and returned to 
England in 1605. The next year he joined the expedition 
which was sent out to establish a colony in Virginia. The 
colonists reached Virginia, April 26,1607. John Smith was 
one of the seven persons appointed to govern the colony. 
The settlement of Jamestown was begun on the 13th 
of May (p. 70). Toward the end of the next year he was 


390 


BIOGRAPHICAL NOTES 


chosen president, but in 1609 he was superseded by Lord 
Delaware. He soon afterward returned to London. In 
1614 he made a voyage to the coast of New England. 
He was given the title of Admiral of New England, but 
his later years were spent in retirement. He died in 1631. 

Pocahontas.—Bom in Virginia; died in England, 1617. 
(See page 63.) 

Miles Standish, the captain of the Pilgrims at Plymouth, 
was born in Lancashire, England, in 1584. He served as a 
soldier in Holland, and in 1620 came to Plymouth in the 
Mayflower . He was not a Separatist, but he liked the Pil¬ 
grims and joined his fortunes with theirs (p. 97). He was 
harsh in his treatment of the Indians, but was of much ser¬ 
vice in protecting the colony during its infancy. He was 
one of the founders of Duxbury, and died there in 1654. 

John Winthrop, the first governor of the Massachusetts 
Bay colony, was born in England in 1587. From 1630 
until his death, in 1649, he was reelected governor almost 
every year (p. 106). While strict and puritanical in his 
manners, he had always the welfare of his people at heart. 

Roger Williams, the founder of Rhode Island, was born 
probably in London about 1607. He came to Massachu¬ 
setts in 1631, and became pastor of the church in Salem 
the same year (p. 112). He died in Rhode Island in 1684. 

Henry Hudson.—Born in England; died in Hudson Bay, 
1611. (See page 80.) 

Peter Minuit, the first Dutch governor of New York 
(New Netherland), arrived at Manhattan in 1626. It was 
he who purchased the island for twenty-four dollars (p. 86). 


BIOGRAPHICAL NOTES 


391 


He remained there until 1631, when he was recalled and 
succeeded by Wouter van Twiller. He then entered the 
Swedish service, and founded a colon}^ on the west side of 
the Delaware. He built Fort Christina, near the present 
city of Wilmington, and died there in 1641. 

Peter Stuyvesant, the fourth and last Dutch governor of 
New York (New Netherland), was bom in Holland in 1602. 
He served in the West Indies, and was made governor of 
4 New Netherland in 1644. He was very active and energetic, 
made friends with the Indians, and conquered the Swedish 
colonies on the Delaware which Peter Minuit had helped to 
establish. He surrendered New Netherland to the English 
in 1664 (p. 89). He afterward retired to his farm (the 
Bowery), where he lived until his death in 1682. 

Samuel de Champlain, called the Father of New France, 
was born in France in 1567. He founded Quebec in 1608, 
and discovered Lake Champlain in 1609 (p. 129). He was 
the governor of Canada, and did much to establish the 
power of France in America. He died at Quebec in 1635. 

Robert Cavelier, Sieur de la Salle, was born in France in 
1643. At the age of twenty-three he went to Canada, 
where he at once became active in explorations (p. 137). 
After exploring the Mississippi and taking possession of the 
lands drained by it, he attempted to found a settlement at 
the mouth of that river. By mistake he landed with his 
colonists in Texas, where nearly all perished. He himself 
was killed by one of his own followers (1687). 

Lord Baltimore.—Born in England, 1580; died, 1632. 
(See page 115.) 


892 


BIOGRAPHICAL NOTES 


William Penn.—Born in England, 1644; died, 1718. 

(See page 150.) 

General James Oglethorpe. — Born in England, 1690; 

died, 1785. (See page 165.) 

Nathaniel Bacon. —Born in England, 1642; died in Vir¬ 
ginia, 1676. (See page 140.) • 

Benjamin Franklin. — Born in Boston, 1706; died in 
Philadelphia, 1790. (See page 172.) 

Marquis de Montcalm was born in France in 1712. After 
the breaking out of the French and Indian War (p. 186), he 
was appointed commander of the French forces in Canada. 
He captured several important posts from the British, and 
repelled Wolfe’s attack on Quebec in July, 1759. In Sep¬ 
tember of the same year, however, both he and Wolfe were 
killed in the battle outside the walls of that city (p. 190). 

James Wolfe, the English general at the battle of Que¬ 
bec (p. 190), was born in England in 1727. While only a 
boy he distinguished himself for his courage. He was 
made brigadier general at the age of thirty, and the next 
year assisted in the capture of Louisburg from the French. 
He died at Quebec (1759) in the hour of victory. 

Patrick Henry was born in Virginia in 1736. He became 
a lawyer in 1760, and five years afterward entered the Vir¬ 
ginia House of Burgesses (p. 229). He was a member of 
the Continental Congress (p. 231), and was twice governor 
of Virginia (p. 223). He died in 1799. 

Samuel Adams, one of the leaders in the American Revo¬ 
lution, was born in Boston in 1722. He was active during 
the events which preceded the war (p. 202), and was a 


BIOGRAPHICAL NOTES 


393 


member of the first Continental Congress (p. 204). He was 
also one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence 
(p. 231). At the age of seventy-two he was elected gov¬ 
ernor of Massachusetts. He died in 1803. 

George Washington. — Born in Virginia, 1732; died, 1799. 
(See page 193.) 

Philip Schuyler. — Soon after the beginning of the Revo¬ 
lutionary War (p. 204), a British army under General Bur- 
goyne was sent south from Canada to take possession of the 
Hudson River, and thus cut off New England from the 
other colonies. General Philip Schuyler (born in Albany, 
1733) was in command of the American forces in New 
York. He put so many hindrances in the way of Bur- 
goyne that, when at last the two armies met at Saratoga, 
the British general was forced to surrender. In the mean¬ 
while, however, General Schuyler had been superseded by 
General Gates. Two years later General Schuyler resigned 
from the army. Pie died at Albany in 1804. 

Nathanael Greene, born in Rhode Island, 1742, was one 
of the ablest of the American generals in the Revolution. 
He was made commander of the southern army in 1780. 
He won several important victories, sometimes by hard 
fighting and sometimes by a masterly retreat. He thus 
helped to pave the way for Washington’s final victory at 
Yorktown (p. 206). He died in Georgia in 1786. 

John Paul Jones, commonly called Paul Jones, was born 
in Scotland in 1747. His real name was John Paul. He 
went to Virginia in 1773, and at the beginning of the Revo¬ 
lutionary War took command of an American ship of war. 


894 


BIOGRAPHICAL NOTES 


He afterwards cruised on the coast of Scotland and in the 
Irish Sea, and captured or destroyed a number of British 
vessels. After the war he took service with the French, 
and later accepted a place in the Russian navy. He died 
in Paris in 1792. 

Thomas Jefferson.—Born in Virginia, 1743; died, 1826. 

(See page 229.) 

Alexander Hamilton was born in the island of Nevis, 
West Indies, in 1757. When fifteen years of age he came 
to New York, and was for a time a student in King's Col¬ 
lege (now Columbia). He was for four years a member of 
Washington's staff, and later a member of the Continental 
Congress. He was a delegate to the Constitutional Conven¬ 
tion (p. 207), and was the first Secretary of the Treasury 
(p. 236). In 1804 he was killed in a duel with Aaron Burr. 

Daniel Boone. — Born in Pennsylvania, 1735; died in 
Missouri, 1820. (See page 213.) 

Eli Whitney.—Born in Massachusetts, 1765; died in 
Connecticut, 1825. (See page 243.) 

Robert Fulton.—Born in Pennsylvania, 1765; died in 
New York, 1815. (See page 250.) 

Oliver Hazard Perry, who won fame in the battle with 
the British on Lake Erie (p. 265), was born in Rhode 
Island in 1785. He announced his victory in a note to 
General Harrison: 11 We have met the enemy, and they are 
ours." Congress voted him a silver medal, and promoted 
him to the rank of captain. He died in 1819. 

Thomas Macdonough, an American naval officer, per¬ 
formed good service to the Americans in the War of 1812 


BIOGRAPHICAL NOTES 


395 


by defeating a British squadron on Lake Champlain. This 
was in September, 1814. Congress rewarded him by mak¬ 
ing him a captain in the navy. 

Marquis de Lafayette was a French general who gave 
much important aid to America during the Revolutionary 
War. He came to America in 1777, and served in the 
army in several important battles. He was present at the 
surrender at Yorktown (p. 206). He was a friend of Wash¬ 
ington, and was of much assistance to him. After the war 
he returned to France, and took part in the French Revo¬ 
lution which soon began there. In 1825 he revisited the 
United States, where he was received with great honor. 

Andrew Jackson.—Born in North Carolina, 1767; died 
in Tennessee, 1845. (See page 259.) 

Henry Clay.—Born in Virginia, 1777; died at Washing¬ 
ton, D.C., 1852. (See page 283.) 

Daniel Webster was born in New Hampshire in 1782. 
He was educated at Dartmouth College, and removed to 
Boston in 1816. He was at different times a member of 
Congress, United States senator (p. 291), and Secretary of 
State — all his life being spent in the active service of his 
country. He died in 1852. 

De Witt Clinton, a distinguished governor of New York, 
was born in 1769. For thirteen years he served as mayor 
of New York. In 1817 he was elected governor, and it was 
chiefly through his influence that the Erie Canal, connect¬ 
ing Lake Erie and the Hudson River, was successfully 
completed. He was again chosen governor in 1824, and 
reelected in 1826. He died in 1828 while still in office. 


896 


BIOGRAPHICAL NOTES 


Samuel F. B. Morse. — Born in Massachusetts, 1791; 
died in New York, 1872. (See page 273.) 

Abraham Lincoln. —Born in Kentucky, 1809; died at 
Washington, D.C., 1865. (See page 312.) 

Ulysses S. Grant. —Born in Ohio, 1822; died in New 
York, 1885. (See page 332.) 

David G. Farragut, an American admiral, was born in 
Tennessee in 1801. He was adopted by Commodore Porter, 
and was appointed midshipman when less than ten years 
of age. He served in the War of 1812 and in the Mexican 
War. At the beginning of the Civil War he was a captain 
in the navy. He distinguished himself in the capture of 
New Orleans and in the battle of Mobile Bay. Congress 
promoted him to the rank of admiral. He was the first in 
the American navy to hold that rank. He died in 1870. 

Cyrus McCormick was born in Virginia in 1809. At the 
age of twenty-two he built the first practical reaping ma¬ 
chine that was ever made. He afterward removed to Chi¬ 
cago, where he established large shops for the manufacture 
of his machines. He died in 1884. 

Clara Barton was born in Massachusetts in 1830. She 
served as nurse during the Civil War, and later went to 
Europe, where she gave great assistance in military hos¬ 
pitals. She organized the American Red Cross Society in 
1881, and was its first president. She died in 1912. 

George Dewey, an American admiral, was born in Ver¬ 
mont in 1837. He was with Farragut in several naval 
engagements during the Civil War. He was promoted to 
the rank of commander in 1872, and to that of commodore 


BIOGRAPHICAL NOTES 


397 


in 1896. In 1898 he commanded the squadron which 
destroyed the Spanish fleet in Manila Bay. For that act 
he was promoted to the rank of admiral. He died in 1917. 

Thomas A. Edison was born in Ohio in 1847. He began 
life as a newsboy on a railroad train. He learned telegra¬ 
phy, became an operator, and made a number of inven¬ 
tions connected with the telegraph. The world owes to 
him many inventions, such as the electric light, the phono¬ 
graph, improved telephone, and scores of others. 

Andrew Carnegie, philanthropist and manufacturer, was 
born at Dunfermline, Scotland, in 1835. He came to 
America when a boy, and worked in a factory at Pittsburgh 
at $1.20 a week. By industry and skillful management he 
amassed a large fortune; and in later life he gave many 
millions of dollars toward the founding of libraries, hospi¬ 
tals, institutions of learning, and other public benefactions. 

Theodore Roosevelt was born in New York in 1858, and 
was the youngest of our Presidents (see page 359). Be¬ 
fore 1900 he had filled several important offices in New York 
and at Washington. In the war with Spain he commanded 
a famous regiment of “Rough Riders.” He is also well 
known as an author of historical works and of books on 
outdoor life. In 1912 the Progressive party nominated 
him for the presidency. He died in January, 1919. 

William H. Taft. — Born in Ohio in 1857. (Page 360.) 

Woodrow Wilson. — Born in Virginia in 1856. (See 
page 361.) 

Warren G. Harding. — Born in Ohio in 1865. (Page 
387.) 


INDEX 


Ad'ams, J6hn, 205, 210, 233. 

Ad'ams, J6hn Quin'cy, 270, 320. 
Ad'ams, Samuel, 392. 

Al a ba'ma, 44, 290, 307. 

A m6r'i ca, 23. 

A mOr'I cus Ves pu'ci us (-shi tis), 22. 
Ar i zo'na, 361. 

Ar'thur, ChSs'ter A., 351. 

Aus'tri a, 365-367. 

Ba'con, Na than'I el, 140, 392. 

Bal bo'a, 31. 

Bal'tl more, Lord, 115, 391. 

Bal'tl more (city), 122, 280. 

Bar'ton, Clara, 396. 

BOl'gi urn, 367. 

Berkeley, Sir WU'liam, 143. 

Black Hawk’s War, 315. 

Boone, Dan'iel, 213, 394. 

Bos'ton, 106, 202, 205. 

Brad'dock, General, 187, 199. 
Brad'ford, WU'liam, 175. 

Brew'ster, WU'liam, 92. 

Brown, John, 305. 

Bueh an'an, James, 324. 

Bui ga'ri a, 373. 

Cab'ot, JOhn, 25, 54, 128, 167, 389. 
Cal houn', JOhn, 291, 296, 318, 320. 
Cal I for'nl a, 51, 293. 

Can'a da. See French in North Amer¬ 
ica. 

Ca nai Zone, 359, 361. 

Cantigny (kan ten ye'), 382. 

Car ngg'ie, Andrew, 397. 

Car o li'na, 58, 128, 167, 168. 

Cartier', Jacques (kar tya', zhak), 128. 
Cham plain', Samuel de, 391. 
Chateau-Thierry (sha to tyar re'), 382. 
Civil War, 307-311, 327, 335. 

Clark, George ROg'ers, 221. 

Clay, HOn'ry, 270, 280, 283, 302, 318, 
320, 323, 395. 

Cleveland, Gro'ver, 351, 352. 
Clin'ton, De Witt, 395. 


Co lum'bus, Chris'to pher, 7, 128, 389. 
Confederate States, 307, 327, 342. 
Congress, Continental, 204, 205, 231. 
COn nOct'I exit (cOn nOt'I exit), 108. 
Constitution of U. S., 183, 20/, 208, 
342. 

Coo'lidge, Calvin, 386, 387. 

Co ro na'do, Fran yls'co de, 38. 
Cor'te§, Her nan'do, 32. 

Da'vis, JOf'fer son, 307, 320, 327. 
DSl'a ware, Lord, 76. 

Dew'ey, George, 396. 

Doug'las, Ste'phen A., 322, 323, 324. 
Drake, Sir Fran'gis, 47, 389. 

Ed' i son, Thomas A., 397. 

El'I ot, J6hn, 124. 

E liz'a bath, Queen, 52, 53, 55. 

En'di cott, J6hn, 104-114. 

Far'ra gut, Commodore, 337, 396. 
Fer'dI nand, King of Spain, 12, 14, 18. 
Fill'more, MU'lard, 321. 

Flor'i da, 32, 35, 128, 129, 307. 

Foch (fosh), General, 368. 

France, 367-369, 381. 

Frank'lln, BSn'ja min, 172, 233, 392. 
Fre m6nt, J6hn C., 324. 

French and Indian War, 180, 186, 200. 
French in North America, 81,128, 137, 
180, 185, 190, 196. 

Ful'ton, Rob'ert, 250, 273, 394. 
Gar'field, James A., 350. 

Geor'gl a, 35, 44, 166, 267, 307. 
Ger'ma ny, 362-383. 

GU'bert, Sir Hum'phrey, 57. 

Grant, U lys'se§ S., 332, 396. 

Greene, Nathanael, 393. 

Great Brlt'ain, 367-370. 

Ham'll ton, Al ex an'der, 236, 394. 
Har'ding, Warren G., 386, 387. 

Har'rl son, BSn'ja min, 352. 

Har'ri son, WU'liam HSn'ry, 264, 318. 
Haye§, Ru'ther ford B., 346, 349. 
Hgn'ry, Pat'rick, 223, 229, 392. 


398 



INDEX 


399 


Hiid'son, H6n'ry, 80, 390. 

Illinois' (-noi'), 131, 136, 224, 290, 
313, 334. 

Independence, Declaration of, 182, 
205, 231. 

In'dI a, 9, 12, 25, 80. 

Ir o quois (-kwoi') Indians, 185. 

Is a bSl'la, Queen of Spain, 12, 14, 18, 
21, 22. 

JUck'son, An'drew, 259, 291, 301, 317, 
318, 395. 

Jgf'fer son, ThSm'as, 229, 312, 317, 
394. 

Joffre (zhofr), General, 368. 

JShn'son, An'drew, 341. 

JShn'son, Sir WU'liam, 184. 

Jo li et (zho le a'), Lou'is, 132. 

Jones, John Paul, 393. 

K&n'sas, 323. 

K&s kas'kl a, 139, 225. 

KSn 216, 261, 286, 288, 312, 

342. 

La fa yStte', 395. 

La Salle (la sal'), RSb'ert C&v e lier'de, 
137, 391. 

Lee, HSn'ry, 297. 

Lee, RSb'ert E., 297, 312, 330, 332, 
334. 

Leif the Lucky, 388. 

Le'on, Ponge de, 32, 128. 

LSx'Ing ton, Battle of, 204. 

Lln'coln, A'bra ham, 312, 341, 396. 
Llv'Ing ston, RSb'ert R., 255. 

Lou l §i a'na, 139, 238, 290, 307. 

Lu si ta'nl a, 371. 

McCor'mick, Cyrus, 396. 

Mac dSn'S ugh, Thomas, 394. 

M&d'i son, James, 241. 

Ma gSl'lan, 31. 

Mar'co Po'lo, 388. 

Marne, 368, 388. 

Mar quette (mar kSt'), Jacques, 128, 
140. 

Ma'ry land (mSr'I land), 115, 342. 
Mas sa chu'setts, 105, 123. 


Mas'sa soit, 100, 123, 125. 

Mexican War, 293, 300, 333. 

MSx'I co, 32, 33, 300, 362. 

Min'li It, Peter, 390. 

Mis sis sip'pi, 44, 290, 307, 337. 
Mississippi River, 36, 45, 132, 138, 
337. 

Mis sou'rl, 220, 290, 321, 323, 335, 
342. 

Missouri Compromise, 291, 295, 322, 

323. 

MSnt calm', Marquis de, 392. 

Morse, Sam'u el F. B., 273, 396. 

Nar va'Sz (nar va'Sth), 35, 167. 

New Am'ster dam, 86. 

New Frange, 138. 

New Hamp'shire, 104. 

New Ha'ven, 108, 249. 

New Jer'gey, 156, 176. 

New M6x'i co, 361. 

New York, 86, 90, 175. 

North Car o li'na, 168, 214, 307. 
North w6st' TSr'ri to ry, 235. 

O'gle thorpe, James, 165, 392. 

Pan a ma' Ca nai', 359. 

PSnn, Wll'liam, 150, 392. 

Pgnn syl va'nl a, 153. 

P&r'ry, Oliver H., 394. 

Per'shing, J6hn, 382. 

Phil a d&l'phl a, 157, 176. 

Phll'ip, King, 123. 

Phll'ip pine Islands, 360. 

Pierge, Frank'lin, 321. 

Pilgrims, The, 95. 

Po ca hbn'tas, 63, 390. 

Polk (pok), James K., 301, 320. 

Po'lo, Mar'co, 388. 

Por'to Ri'co, 18, 32. 

Presidents of United States, 208, 210, 
237, 241, 270, 301, 318, 320, 321, 

324, 326, 343, 344, 359, 360, 361, 
386. 

Prussia (prtish'a), 364. 

Quakers, 113, 151, 156, 162. 

Ra'leigh (raw'ly), Sir Wal'ter, 55, 389. 



400 


INDEX 


Revolutionary War, 182, 204, 221, 
244, 246, 252, 259, 297. 

Rhode Island (rod I'land), 112. 
Rich'mond, Va., 65, 142, 339. 

Roo'ge velt, The'o dore, 359, 397. 
Russia (rush'a), 366, 367, 373. 

St. Au'gus tine, 53, 129. 

St. Mihiel (san me ySl'), 382. 

Schuyler (ski'ler), Philip, 393. 

Sc6tt, Win'field, 303, 321, 334. 
Serajevo (s6r'a ya vo), 365. 

Serb'! a, 366-367, 373. 

Slavery, 48, 142, 287, 292, 295, 296, 
305, 306, 307, 320, 321, 325, 

326, 328, 342. 

Smith, Captain J6hn, 68, 140, 389. 
So'to, Fer'dinand de, 42, 135, 167, 
389. 

South Car o IFna, 168, 271, 292, 307, 

327. 

Spanish War, 354. 

Stamp Act, The, 181, 229. 

Stan'dish, Miles, 390. 

Stuyvesant (sti'vesant), Peter, 89,391. 
Sus'sex, 374. 


Taft, Wil'liam H., 360. 

Tay'lor, Zach'a rf, 303, 320, 333. 

Te ciim'seh, 264. 

T8n nes see', 261, 289, 307, 336. 
T6x'as, 300, 307, 333. 

Triple Alliance, 362. 

Triple Entente (an tant'), 362. 

Ty'ler, J6hn, 318. 

Va'ca, Ca be'za (tha) de, 33, 167. 

Van Bu'ren, Mar'tin, 301, 318. 
Vrrgin'ia, 58, 63, 115, 119, 140, 201, 
233, 283, 288, 297, 305, 307. 
Vlr'gin Islands, 361. 

War of 1812, 265, 287. 

Wash'ing ton, George, 193, 261, 273, 
297, 298, 311, 314, 393. 

WSb'ster, Dan'iel, 291, 296, 318, 320, 
395. 

W6st, BSn'ja min, 253, 276. 

West Pointy 299, 304, 332. 

Whit'ney, E'li, 243, 273, 288, 394. 
Wil'liamg, RSg'er, 112, 390. 

Wil'son, Wood'row, 361, 369-372, 375. 
Win'throp, JShn, 390. 

Wolfe, General, 190, 392. 







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